Long Night of Solace
by ArtemusSapphire
Summary: 20 year old Max Caulfield is struggling with PTSD, and a familiar face from Blackwell comes to help her with the struggle. But when the alternate past comes to the current reality, people experience things they never thought possible, including an unexpected break in the space-time continuum. KateTherapistAU MaxPTSDAU. Enjoy. Please review!
1. Aperture

**Halsey - Gasoline**

 **Chapter One - Aperture**

 **It was the evening of March 11th, 2015.**

Chloe would be twenty one today.

Max brought Kleenex and a wealth of flowers each time she came along to visit, and this time was no exception. Max placed the bouquet of flowers in front of her knees, and began to apologize for the third time she'd been here.

"Chloe... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that...that I couldn't save you. You wanted so badly for me to let you go, because you were selfless in the end. You wanted the storm to disappear, to save Arcadia Bay...to save everything. And I still let you go." The tears began to fall, and Max gently rubbed them away with a Kleenex. "But..I thought, since it's your twenty first birthday..." She reached into her camera bag and pulled out a bottle of the beer Chloe had always drank in front of her. "...that I gave your favorite drink another chance, because I know, in whichever universe you've survived in without the aid of my time travel, you'd want me to drink with you."

Max reached into her pocket and grabbed a bottle opener she'd found in Chloe's personal items Joyce had given her for safe keeping. She popped the lid off, gave it a quick glance, and put the rim to her mouth. Finding the taste rather satisfactory, She tipped her head back and swallowed hard. Gulp after gulp. The alcohol rained off of her chin and down her Jane shirt, but Max didn't care. At this point in time the alcohol felt amazing in her throat.

As the last of it went down, Max took the bottle from her mouth and set it beside her, burping up a bit of liquid that hadn't quite made it just yet. In fact, she felt like she could puke at any given moment now. Suddenly feeling like she needed to, Max ran to the nearest tree, leaving the bottle behind, and let loose.

For a straight minute the brunette hurled painfully, hunched over her stomach, hand bracing her on the tree. When she finally stopped she fell to the side and landed in the grass, the world spinning around her as Max laid there. It had to have been a good moment or two, because the clouds had completely shifted before she closed her eyes the first time.

She started to hear voices. Nauseous enough to fall back down, the brunette scrambled to her feet to retrieve the empty alcohol bottle near Chloe's head stone, only to land in the grass once more. Another attempt and she finally got to it. Max stuffed the bottle in her bag and ran in the other direction to find cover before whoever came up the path could see her. She tripped near a larger headstone she stopped by, but crawled the rest of the way instead of trying again.

"I don't know, Kate. Max was so different after Chloe died." It was...Victoria's voice? Talking to Kate?

Max looked around the concrete to confirm what her ears had told her. The two girls, Kate wearing a black turtleneck and blue skinny jeans, and Victoria in a beautiful black halter dress, slowly walked up along the path into the cemetery.

"Her photography is lacking so much lately, and I don't mean that in a bitchy way." Victoria continued on.

"It just lacks positivity." Kate said in return. Victoria nodded her head in agreement.

"Never knew she could get so depressed so quickly. She just...takes black and white photos now with that digital camera of hers. I see some of her blog posts and it's just... What happened to Max Caulfield? The mild goth getup? The interest in alcohol?"

Kate figured she knew why, but she wondered if it were appropriate for them to discuss it in such a place as this. Everyone knew that Chloe was Max's closest friend. Of course, Kate knew a bit about Chloe when she still attended Blackwell, but nothing as near the amount of information Max spewed out in a single second when asked about her. How much of an influence the bluenette had been on Max she couldn't begin to imagine. Max gave up the quirky, nerdiness of her former self only weeks after, and Kate figured that was because of Chloe's absence.

 **Note to self. Chloe was more of a figure to Max than anyone probably realized.**

"I don't really know. Maybe...maybe she gave up on the positives to focus on the negatives." Kate's sudden, yet gentle grip on Victoria's forearm caused them both to stop. Max looked on, wondering where this'd go next. She was intrigued by the conversation they were having about her, as the words coming out of their mouths were fairly accurate. Max did give that up because she missed her blue haired friend. It was the only way she could feel close to her.

"You're probably right, Kate. Ugh, I just feel so shitty about it."

The two continued to walk.

"It's not your fault, Victoria. You did what you could to try and reignite the flame in her."

"I suppose, but Max never answers her phone. I sent her a text yesterday asking how she was doing and she just...nothing. It just kind of sucks that after all I did she still never cheered up." Max unlocked her phone and opened the messaging app. Victoria was right. Max never responded to her. Victoria's eyes stopped at Chloe's headstone, realizing the fresh bouquet of flowers that had planted there. Kate realized the exact kind and arrangement, especially the distinct blue of the plants. They were flowers Max absolutely adored. She'd seen them in a lot of the pictures Max took. Victoria had been thinking the same thing, slightly depressed that someone had come to grieve not even minutes ago. Kate knew it had to be Max and wondered if she were still around somewhere.

"Listen, Kate. I can't be here right now. This place saddens me. I'm gonna head home. Maybe we can stop for tea tomorrow, or something."

"Okay, take care." Kate said sweetly as Victoria waved and turned to leave. Max watched her exit the area and turned her attention solely to the blonde who had sat herself in front of Chloe's headstone now.

Kate's eyes closed and she muttered something Max couldn't hear. As she inched around the corner of the headstone she used for cover, Max didn't realize she stepped on a branch in the process until Kate's eyes flashed open. Max retreated in almost an instant, but Kate caught a glimpse of the girl's leg before she could get it fully back around the concrete.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Kate called out. Max tried to stay calm behind the headstone, but she began to hear footsteps in the grass. Her heart thumped away in her chest and she wondered if Kate could hear it from where she sat.

"Hello?" Kate's voice was too close now. It was only a matter of seconds.

Max covered her eyes.

Kate gasped when she saw the sight of her.

"...Max?"

"Uh, hey...Kate." Tears fell from the brunettes eyes beneath her hands as the words stuttered out of her mouth.

Kate knelt in front of her. "Are...are you okay? You look so worse for wear I..." Kate stopped when she smelt the distinct scent of vomit and alcohol, and looked closer to see that Max had spilled something on her shirt and sweatshirt. It wasn't the only thing she smelt either. Weed was somewhere to be found too, and she realized that was almost the entirety of the scent.

"Max..please, look at me." Kate put a hand on her shoulder.

Hesitantly and shakily, Max took her hands away from her face. She looked at Kate with bloodshot eyes.

"Oh my... Max, what happened?"

"I- I just, wanted to celebrate Chloe's 21st with her." Bashfully the brunette looked away. Kate had a difficult time taking in the view before her. Max's hair was significantly darker, almost black, and the heavy liner dripping from around her eyes enhanced the exhausted look on her face. She wore her signature shirt but with a black hoodie, and ripped skinny jeans to follow with evenly black combat boots. Kate didn't recognize the person she was looking at anymore. The way Kate saw it, this could have been Chloe 2.0.

"Max, do you need someone to talk to?" She asked her softly.

"I just...need a moment."

In the time it took Max to respond, Kate already had a number dialed in her phone for an emergency mental health hotline. She held her thumb above the green call button, ready to press it if she thought otherwise, or couldn't help the girl in anyway.

"Kate... I need to tell you something. Something I've never told anyone except Chloe when she was still alive."

"Go on Max, I'm listening. I'm here for you."

Max took a deep breath.

"I traveled through two timelines to save her, I saved her from death so many times, tore apart my dreams to save my best friend..."

"Max, what are you talking about?"

"I...I can time travel."

* * *

It had only been a couple of years since Kate decided to be a therapist, and she hadn't seen many people under her undergrad certification, but what Max had told her she couldn't compare to anything she'd heard so far. She also couldn't let that kind of information leak at a hospital. Kate thought for sure someone would try and put Max into an asylum. In fact it probably wouldn't even be clear where she'd go and why.

Only one thing was clear: Max was a trainwreck waiting to happen. But Kate was there to the rescue.

Kate let the pot of water come to a boil, silently viewing her patient through the separation of walls between the kitchen and the living room. Max sat at the dining room table but practically laid her torso across the top of it. She looked even more tired from the time she found the poor girl. Her face almost fell to the side as she rested it on. Max definitely didn't look like she gave a care at this point. Even her bag hung from her torso in an uncomfortable looking position.

Kate poured both of them a cup of tea. She dropped a bag of green tea in hers, and Kava with just a hint of lemon in Max's. The Kava (a natural root that calmed anxiety) was to calm Max's nerves, and because that was the only type of tea Max seemed to drink around her. Kate didn't mind the taste or the effects, given that it calmed her own anxiety many times over. In the case that Max couldn't calm down over talk, Kate had a back up plan, yet it was rather drastic in comparison to what she was going to try first. Time travel. Yikes.

Max didn't even give so much as a glance at Kate as she set the tea down in front of her. She only smelt the hint of green tea and Kava in the cups themselves, and that was enough for her. Kate took her seat across from the depressed girl and gingerly sipped on her own cup, hoping Max would eventually do the same.

"I killed my best friend" Max said in a hoarse voice. "She wanted me to go back and let her die like before the first time I've seen her in five years. The storm came to Arcadia Bay on Friday of that week. It wanted to destroy everything...even me." Max's head lowered into her crossed arms and the rest of her body moved closer together.

Kate wondered if it was a literal Storm or not, but the amount of detail she'd put into its description made it seem as real to Max as it did Kate. The way Max shrunk into herself suggested that it was more real to her all the time.

 **The storm scares Max. Trigger?**

She wrote down everything Max had been saying to her, reminding herself how fragile Max seemed at any given moment. She was careful with her questions, too, and kept a close eye on her body language.

"And the lighthouse..." Max shuttered. Kate made a note of it. Of course she knew which lighthouse she was talking about. Max mentioned it in her childhood stories over tea time when things didn't look so bleak for the brunette, and that was in September, three weeks before the week of October 13th.

"What about the lighthouse, Max?"

That garnered a scared look from her. It was kind of strange Max didn't use that as an outlet of personal solace, Kate thought. From what she could tell it held many great memories of both her and Chloe.

"It...it crushed me, the first time I saw the Storm...woke up in Jefferson's class not even a second later. But...oh my god, it felt so real."

 **A dream. A lighthouse. A storm.** Kate wrote in tandem.

Suddenly there was a grip around Kate's wrist that stopped her writing. She looked up and saw Max staring at her.

"Max?" She asked.

The brunette took her hand away, doubling back as if she had no idea what just happened.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what that was."

 **Involuntary action. Lighthouse = definite trigger.** She wrote.

Max finally took a sip of the tea provided to her, and held onto the cup with white knuckled fingers. It looked like it could break under the pressure Max was putting on it, but Kate would rather a five dollar cup break than Max's composure.

Victoria had mentioned that Max began to use a digital camera over the old Polaroid she carried around with her. Since Max left, Kate hadn't seen eye or tail of the old device.

"Max, why did you start taking pictures with a digital camera instead of your old one?"

"Because I used several pictures that had come out of the old one to screw with reality." Max said non chalantly.

 **Polaroids = bad memories and portals to another point in time.**

"And...how did you manage to use those to do that?"

"I focused in on them, like a real camera does. I use a digital because the photos just don't work the same way, I've tried. I only used polaroids as a failsafe. Easy to rip up and burn."

 **Personal protection emplacement.**

Kate had gotten the gist of what was going on now, and she tried to use her own memory to try and piece it together. With barely a recollection of that week aside from Chloe's demise, Kate didn't remember of anything else.

"Max, what happened that week you said this occurred?"

Max scoffed. "What didn't happen that week? First I save my best friend after watching her get shot, she almost dies twice in the junkyard the next day, then you commit suicide, I jump back into my body from five years ago and change the fate of Chloe's father, putting her in a wheelchair, reverse that decision, help her find Rachel Amber's dead body in the junkyard, discover the dark room..." Max trailed off for minutes going into detail in that week. But Katehad commit suicide?

 **Patient aptly describes a suicide during the week. It was mine.**

Kate was a bit worried by that statement. She'd never shown Max any side of her depression, so the fact that Max knew told her how eerily accurate things were beginning to sound. And Rachel's body had been found in the junkyard after Jefferson's arrest. That was something the whole town knew.

Max described to her the nightmare in cold hard detail, including when she was walking through the doors of their dorm rooms.

"Max, can you...show me, that you can time travel?" She asked hesitantly.

Max's head shook, and a worried face spread across her face very quickly.

"No...no, no, no, please don't make me do this." She began hyperventilating.

"Max, max, calm down. I'm not going to make you."

"Kate!" Max grabbed her wrist again...and raised her right hand.

A strong warping sensation took over Kate's senses. There was an orange glow as bright as the sun that overlayed the room as the walls twisted.

Max was having a panic attack, and rewinding time in the same moment. Kate's head began to hurt.

"Max, Max, you need to stop! Whatever you're doing, stop!"

And just like that it was over. Max breathed so hard that she moved in her seat. She let go of Kate's wrist and came out of the time warp hyperventilating.

"It's okay Max"

"No, it's not, i- I did it again, and I took you with me! I've never done that before. Oh my god I could have killed you."

Kate needed a moment to process what just happened. She leaned back in her chair and looked at the pad in front of her. It was missing words. Lots of them.

Kate's own eyes went wide as her heart rate rose, but she took a deep breath, watching Max have the panic attack before she realized it may be a bad idea not to be physically touching her if the rewind were to happen again. That seemed to be the way Max took her with, she supposed.

 **Patient has time rewinding powers. I just experienced it for myself.**

* * *

"Hey, it's Kate. Could you come over here for a moment? I've got Max at the apartment and...well, she's not okay." Max heard her from the other room. "Yes. Yes, I said it's Max Caulfield. I know, I know, listen, I need you here. Can you get here soon? Alright. Okay."

* * *

The front door opened. Two medics walked into the house, greeted by Kate. One was female, the other male. But the female had a face she recognized.

"Taylor?"

"Hi Max. How are you feeling?" The strange smile that took over Taylor's face made Max feel very uncomfortable.

"Terrible" she said honestly. Taylor took a look at Max's hands. They were still shaking.

"Her nerves are shot" Taylor said to her partner, who brought out a small heart monitor to check Max's pulse.

Taylor connected Max to the machine and watched as the monitor beeped away at a constant 86bpm.

"Blood pressure is a bit high. Have you been getting nose bleeds?"

Max nodded.

"Do you take any medication?"

She shook her head.

"Looks like some kind of stress to me." Taylor's partner chimed in. Taylor almost glared back at him before Max grabbed her wrist. Kate's eyes went wide, fearing the rewind might happen again in an instant. But Max's right arm stayed stagnant beside her. Max also stared off into oblivion, not even her eyes moving an inch.

Taylor looked at the notion before turning to Kate.

"She's done that before." Kate confirmed.

"You've seen her do this?"

Kate nodded. "Yes, right before you got here. I think it's some kind of a trigger."

"What caused it?" She wondered, examining Max closely. Max's eyes wandered to Kate, and as they met stares Kate realized the girl had finally come out of her trance.

"I don't know for sure, but it could have been because of that week in October."

Taylor nodded. "I see. That was a hard time for you."

Max was silent on the matter. She didn't know how to process Taylor, of all people, talking to her.

"Do you want us to take you to the hospital?" Taylor asked the brunette.

"Uhm, actually" Kate interrupted "she'd like to stay here."

"Alright. That's fine as long as she's under surveillance." Taylor stood. "Kate. Walk with me for a second?"

"Sure."

* * *

The evening air outside Kate's apartment was cool.

"Look, I know there's more to it than this." Taylor began.

"How so?"

"She's not just stressed out, she's scared, Kate. She won't even talk to me. Why? I don't know. Maybe you do, but she's frightened about something. Where did you even find her today? No one's heard from her in a long time."

"Crying behind a gravestone in the cemetery. She was visiting Chloe, since it's her 21st birthday today. She was also drinking and puking, at least I assume she was."

"I know, I saw the beer bottle in her bag. You should give her a different shirt by the way. That one she's wearing reeks of a bad day."

"I'll give her one." Kate said with a sigh.

"How are you doing?"

"Me? Oh, I'm fine. My nerves are a bit shot too, but I've just been busy with this certification."

"I understand. You do look a bit tense but I won't bug you over it."

They walked in silence for a few moments. Kate posed an odd question.

"What would you do if you could time travel?"

That made Taylor stop in her tracks.

"I'd do what Max did and try to save her friend before an asshole like Nathan could kill her."

"Wait. You know?"

"It's not hard to look over at your pad and make the connections. It wasn't exactly hidden, Kate. I know you're an honest person. How does she do it?"

"Her right hand. Or both. Or the left. I don't know. But she took me with her when she grabbed my wrist."

"How far?"

"A few minutes, at best. But the room was...warping around us, like reality was taking itself apart and putting itself back together. It was kind of frightening."

"I can imagine, because there's never been historical entry about time travel. There's speculation, but no one's met a time traveler. It's just tragic that Max gets this power and something like that happens to her."

"I know. What do you think we should do?"

"Just keep a close eye on her. I think it's better she stays with you because she's familiar with you as a person. Just make sure she's calm, and that nothing can set her off. Do you know where she's staying right now?"

"At Chloe's place, I assume. With Chloe's mother and step father."

"Oh no," Taylor sighed "well, a night away should give you enough room to find out how to help her. Best of luck to you on that by the way."

Kate walked back into the house with Taylor in tow, noticing Max hunched over in her chair, Chloe's beanie covering her mouth in her hands.

"Thank you for coming on short notice" Kate thanked them.

"Anytime. And Kate, if anything else happens, make sure you let me know."

"Will do."

The medics left the apartment after one last vital check on Max.

* * *

Kate stood with her hands on her hips, wondering what to do next. It was getting dark already. Kate unlocked her phone and checked the weather. Light showers for the rest of the night. She sighed.

"Max, do you want a different shirt to wear?"

The brunette looked down at her stained Jane shirt.

"I guess I could use one, yeah." Max sounded defeated. This whole day had been one weird cluster fuck.

Kate returned with a plain white t shirt and handed it to the girl. Max silently changed shirts, leaving the other one on the table next to her.

"Max, where are you staying?" Kate asked.

"With Joyce and David."

"In Chloe's old room?"

Max nodded.

That couldn't have been anywhere near therapeutic.

Kate didn't say anything in response for fear of engendering a negative impact on the brunette.

She just sighed again.

"Kate," Max said "why are you letting me stay here?"

"Because I'm worried, Max. You've changed so much in the past two years, and you've practically disappeared off the face of the Earth."

Max brought her knees to her chest and hugged them.

"I stayed with my parents for a year after Chloe died, but I came back because I couldn't stand being away for so long. Sometimes I manage. Other times I want to die. But I know it would only hurt my family."

Kate breathed a silent sigh of relief. Max wasn't suicidal, that was a start. A good one.

"Are you okay with being here?"

"I'm fine, Kate. It's better than being around the things that make me upset."

Kate knelt next to her. "Max, maybe it's you move out of that place. You need to be somewhere away from Arcadia Bay."

"I know" Max released her legs and made way to stand. "You have a guest room?"

"Right down the hall, all the way to the left. The bathroom is before it."

Max said nothing as she made her way to the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Kate was slightly dumbstruck by the brunette's sudden absence. Max left both her bag and her stained shirt on the table.

 **Leaving behind personal belongings. Definitely a sign of self loathing. That, or she just doesn't care.**

Kate separated the bag and shirt and tossed Max's clothing into the pile of dirty laundry not many feet away in the hallway. Out of curiosity Kate looked through Max's bag.

The old bag used to hold her old camera, but Kate noticed the newer looking NIKON D810 sitting peacefully inside. She took it out and eventually found the power switch. She navigated to the pictures already taken, and almost dropped the camera when she saw one particular photo.

It was Max, in the nude, in front of a mirror. She blushed even though she wasn't in the same room as the brunette. Kate knew karma caught up with her for going through Max's things already, so she set the camera down and powered it off.

Kate continued on through the bag. Used tissues, the beer bottle, a hair clip, and a 6 inch long apparatus she didn't recognize.

Kate grabbed the pink device, twisted the bottom of it and found that it was in fact a vibrator.

Kate took her hands out of the bag and held them away from her before washing them in the sink.

 **Note to self. Never go through Max's bag that she carries around with her.**

Kate wasn't surprised Max didn't have an actual purse. She used her camera bag for literally everything. Kate figured it was just too easy. She was kind of disgusted by the vibrator, but Kate didn't judge her for it. Max didn't have anyone to take care of those things for her. Not that she knew of anyway.

Kate stood at the counter with her hands under the running water. She wondered how Max would feel in the morning, seeing as it was only 8 o' clock in the evening. Hopefully she would be better considering it was a nice and quiet environment for her to sleep in. Kate's apartment was always quiet, and she prided herself on having a nicer place in northern Arcadia Bay where it was near silence all around. At least Max wouldn't have Joyce and David to bother her, and Kate figured she'd just let Max sleep as much as she wanted tomorrow morning.

Even Kate needed sleep soon, though she wasn't as exhausted as Max, she presumed.

* * *

Max shed her clothes, except for the shirt Kate had given her, and slid into the bed.

Max tossed and turned in the silky sheets for what felt like an hour before she fell asleep. The slight pattering of rain on the windows kept her awake, but being that there wasn't any thunder, Max took deep breaths and calmed herself enough to begin to relax. Thankfully she learned to dissipate the anxiety that came along with rain over the years. Holding Chloe's beanie close to her face, Max let the smell overtake her senses. She faintly heard the sound of running water before she drifted into a dreamless sleep in the silence of Kate's guest room.

* * *

The morning came swiftly, Max opening her eyes without such a recollection of a dream state. The beanie was still gently cluched between her fingers for which she was thankful.

Max lifted herself off her stomach and rolled to the side. Chloe's necklace hung from her neck, and she stared at the three fake rounds joined together by a string. She smiled at it. Above all, Chloe's necklace was something she cherished the most besides the numerous pictures they had together. She could have jumped anywhere in time she wanted, with any picture, but she knew it wasn't a good idea.

"No more screwing with time." She told herself. Max swung her legs off the side of the bed and examined the room around her. She barely remembered entering the guest space at all last night. The walls were pristine white, a blue carpet almost the same shade as Chloe's hair laid carefully placed under the bed and around the edges. Max dug her feet into the softness and thanked whatever being watching over her that she had woken up in a safe place. David and Joyce's home was comfortable, no doubt, but it held too many memories of the Price family and way more artifacts than she liked.

Maybe moving out of Arcadia Bay really would help her. Maybe Kate was right. But where would she go? Would she go to a school of psychology like Kate?

Kate the therapist. She thought that was slightly ironic, the circumstance being that in the alternate timeline Kate never survived. But in this one she prevailed over things Max thought she wouldn't, and that made Kate almost glow with a certain radiance in her presence. She loved the fact that Kate was there for her like Max was in the opposite timeline.

The brunette poked her head out and into the hallway. Kate's door was open slightly. She quietly stepped into the hallway and looked inside.

Kate slept peacefully on her side, white translucent blankets draped over her small frame, making her look like a sleeping angel. She stirred in her sleep as the sun began to coalesce through the window next to her bed. Max took herself away from the view and went to the kitchen. She vaguely remembered the coffee pot on the counter next to where they sat last night, and made that her center point.

Max slipped a K-Cup into the machine and placed a small black mug she found neatly arranged in a random cupboard underneath it. The coffee brewed instantly, and thirty seconds later Max took a sip of the flavored coffee.

Kate groggily strolled into the kitchen in from the hallway in her nightgown, and noticed Max sitting on the counter, absently staring into the corner of the kitchen. She held a steaming cup of coffee at her side. Kate assumed she'd just woken up not that long ago.

"How are you this morning, Max?"

The brunette's soft eyes met Kate's.

"Fine," she said softly, taking another swig of coffee. "I actually haven't slept that well in a long time."

 **Sleep takes away anxiety.**

Kate found herself slightly smiling.

"Did you dream at all?"

Max shook her head. Kate was beyond relieved to hear that. She ejected the empty K-cup and popped in her own, pressing the brew button.

"Kate... I didn't like seeing you depressed."

Kate's eyes went wide. She stopped and looked at the brunette. She had to remind herself of the circumstances surrounding her.

"I'm okay Max, I promise. I'm not depressed in this one." The blonde returned to her coffee.

"I'm sorry, it still feels like that week is haunting me. I keep thinking at any moment you'll tell me that you're in a nightmare and can't wake up."

 **Note to self. Apparently in another universe I'm depressed and or dead.**

"Max, you should focus on the now."

"F-f-focus?"

 **Crap.**

 **Don't mention things about cameras around Max.**

"Not focus, just... Try and stay in the now. The past haunts you, and it's better if you don't play on those fears from two years ago."

Max considered the words going into her ears. It had been a long time since that week, almost two and a half years by now.

"I've left multiple of myself in other places." She said dryly.

Kate looked up from stirring her coffee.

"I wonder what I'm like in the others. The first time I jumped back in time to change William's fate I returned to the presence a different person. I was part of the vortex club, best friends with Victoria, and Nathan, and the rest of those...assholes."

Kate cringed at that word. They weren't mean people anymore, Kate thought to herself. In fact, Victoria was almost the complete opposite. She still talked in a sarcastic tone most of the time but the girl meant well.

"Max, have you talked to any of the people from the Vortex since Blackwell?"

Max shook her head. "The last time I heard anything back from them was Friday while the storm was about to take out Arcadia. It was...Nathan. He left me a message on my phone saying he was sorry, and warned me about Jefferson. I don't know what happened to him, but I assume in that timeline Nathan was killed by him."

Kate didn't know how else to respond to her. It was all very confusing and mildly intriguing how much Max had gone through, and although Kate's head was already killing her this morning, she needed to know everything that happened during that week. She'd keep prodding for information here and there, but Kate didn't overdo it for fear of pushing Max too far.

"Victoria's really changed." She said, pulling the cup of freshly brewed coffee from the maker.

"Yeah, I know. I saw you both walking in the cemetery together. And I did get her text by the way. I just don't know what to say to her."

"You should reassure her how you're doing."

Max looked at her. "Why?"

"Max, she's worried. And...I don't know how she treated you in the other timelines, but she was there for you the day Chloe died." She opened the fridge to retrieve the creamer.

Max supposed Kate was right. When she came out of the bathroom that morning Victoria and a lot of other students had crowded around her to comfort her, even students she didn't know, like those from the art group, LGBT, special needs, etc. The biggest surprise was Victoria. She even hugged her and let Max cry on her cashmere. She felt absolutely terrible after making fun of her in class, and vowed not to from that day forward.

Max took out her phone and opened the inbox. Victoria's message was still there waiting for her reply.

 **Hey Max, it's Victoria. I'm just wondering how you're doing lately. Hope you're alright. Text me back if you can. - Vic.**

Max almost cried. Victoria never seemed really care about Max's mental health. Sure she did things for her, but in the alternate timelines Victoria was a complete alpha bitch.

 **I'm okay Victoria.** She sent back.

Kate smiled to herself as Max clicked send.

They were making progress. The fact that Max could come to terms with small things like this would help her in the long run.

Kate pulled a pan out of the cupboard and set it on the stove, warming it before cracking a pair of eggs into the metal.

"Are you hungry Max?"

Max nodded. Kate flipped and scrambled the eggs, then served them to Max on a small white plate. Kate wasn't that hungry, so she turned off the range and watched Max eat while she stirred creamer into her drink.

The brunettes phone buzzed next to her. Max put the plate aside and found a new text from Victoria atop her screen.

 **Oh thank goodness** , it began **, I was so worried Max. Where are you now?**

 **Kate's place** , Max responded. Across the way, at her apartment near the school, Victoria watched the two words scroll across the screen and wondered how in the world that had occured. She wondered if Max had been in Arcadia Bay the entire two years, and figured that was the case since she was in the obvious position to be at Kate's house.

Since Chloe's death, something had changed Victoria's view on Max. She already knew the brunette wasn't a poser, and figured she was a cool girl, but the problem was that Max was more likeable. No one ever said anything bad about her, and everything bad about Victoria. In the three weeks Victoria knew Max, she figured she was a wannabe hipster. But when Chloe died and Max was obviously struck with grief, Victoria knew that was her chance to make things right if she wanted Max to accept her. She let Max cry on her shoulder, and she too felt like she could shed a few tears as one of the most gentle and kind girls she held in her arms did. Victoria knew people would look at her differently, but that's what she wanted. And mostly she wanted Max to feel like at least someone was there for her. She was also mean to Kate in almost the same bracket of time that she laughed at Max, but was ultimately glad it only got as far as a paper ball and not a viral video, which she deleted as soon as she got the chance. Victoria was worried for a while, but as the months passed and she hadnt seen or heard of such a video being shared around the school she breathed easy. Her and Kate made up the next week, went for tea together, sat at the Two Whales for breakfast before school, and eventually became better friends than either of them could have imagined was possible. Kate forgave her for everything, and Victoria let the girl help her when even she felt no one else was there. Her minions, who she took to calling acquaintances and distancing herself from, no longer influenced her in the worst of ways.

Max was... a different story. Even though she gave as much comfort to Max as possible, Max was always distant with all of them, in almost the same way Victoria was with Courtney and Taylor. Even Kate was pushed off to the side most of the time. Victoria began to say such good things about a girl that used to be just a shy brunette with a camera that it almost backfired on her. But the rest of the school tried to give so much support to the girl. Victoria only felt bad when Max had dropped herself from Blackwell completely because people wouldn't leave her alone. Max just wanted to be left that way, and she went to some extreme measures to do it.

And she was, for two and a half years. Victoria followed Max's blog, on which Max called herself "Noir Angel," but there wasn't much going on that either. She uploaded pictures here and there of Seattle, southern Oregon, parts of California. But she mused they were all old pictures. The last one she uploaded was om the eve of Christmas. Beyond that, there wasn't much else. It wasn't until Victoria found the old camera Max used, along with a set of torn polaroids in the dorm trash bin, that Victoria began to really worry about her. It was the night Max left Blackwell altogether that she found it, so she figured Max had completely abandoned her dreams. All hope regarding Max's photography career seemed so lost to her at that point. She never even entered a photo for the everyday heroes contest, and it wasn't even Victoria who won. It was Kate.

Victoria looked at the old camera sitting atop her dresser and considered telling Max she still had it. But she had no idea what to say to her in a single text message. There was too much time and distance between them for it to matter anymore. She'd taken it in to get it fixed, since it was broken when she found it, so that maybe one day she could return it to her. Not even Kate knew she had it, though, so she was on her own to try and figure out how to get it back to.

If Max didn't want her camera anymore, what was wrong that made her give it up? And if she still didn't want it, what the hell would Victoria do with such an item in her possession?

Victoria got up from her bed and picked up the old camera. She faced it towards herself and examined the front of it. She'd had time to see the raggedy yellow camera up close, but every time she held it she felt weird, like an odd aura had attached itself to the artifact. She ran her fingers off the edge, and accidentally pushed the capture button. The flash snapped up and the camera snapped a shot of her.

The Polaroid inched out of the camera and Victoria's surprised face covered the polaroid. She'd laugh at herself for looking so stupid, but she couldn't knowing how she laughed at Max for doing the exact same thing in Jefferson's class not too soon before Chloe was killed.

Victoria's stomach churned in her abdomen, and the blonde managed a distinct pained frown as she gently set the camera back on her dresser.

 **Fuck me.**

* * *

 **Author's note: I apologize for the extremely long exposition here, but I wanted to get it across that considering the circumstances of the funeral and Chloe's death, that all three of them would change quite radically. My decision to make Kate a therapist came from the fact that her character seems like the one who'd be best for the position. I also wanted to explore the effect Chloe's death would have on Victoria, and Max of course, as we find out she might have minor, or severe, PTSD from the events of that week.**

 **Anyway, besides the point, I'm in Ireland for the next three days, and will try and post the next segment before Sunday. I'd been writing this for three days, and edited for about half of one, so you can kind of gauge where I was on this. Also, hope you enjoyed this first chapter, please leave some constructive criticism, let me know if you liked it, and if you have any large issues with the story or the plotline, please private message me. Also, I'm writing on my smartphone, so indenting is kind of impossible right now. Thanks :D**


	2. Focus

**Chapter 2 - Focus**

 **Always This Late - Odesza**

* * *

Kate made absolutely sure to read her notes over and over again. In Max's case a patient like her would be diagnosed with either severe chronic depression or PTSD, in retrospect of her actions. But it only boiled down to how she reacted, and Kate knew it was post traumatic stress disorder that did these kinds of things to people. Triggers, involuntary movements, and distrust of almost all people Max met. Definitely PTSD. And the time travel? Well, that was fairly new.

Kate sat back in her seat at the kitchen table and studied her writing pad one more time.

 **Maxine Caulfield, age 20. Shows multiple symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, such as triggers, involuntary movement, distrust, anxiety. Analysis shows Max is inherently insecure about the past and reflects such in the form of depression. Complete diagnosis: PTSD and Chronic Stress/Depression. Recommend treatment on the intermediate level.**

 **\- Kate Marsh, Undergraduate Therapist. School of applied Psychology, Arcadia, Oregon.**

Kate set her pen to the side and stared at the pad, at the information attached. The TV talked away at a closed-eyed Max lying on the couch across the room. If it weren't for the flat screen Kate rarely ever used it would almost be completely silent in the apartment aside from the soft humming of the fridge from the kitchen.

Next to her notebook Kate's phone buzzed a short tone, and the blonde touched the screen to see the words scrolling across the glass.

 **I'm almost there, give me like ten minutes.**

Kate picked up her Samsung to type a message in reply.

 **No rush. Max is napping on the couch and I'm just going over my notes again.**

 **Okay. See you in five. I'm just off the highway.**

 **OK.**

Kate sighed to herself and stood from the kitchen table. She passed the napping Max and turned down the TV's volume before hitting the power button. Successful in not waking the brunette, Kate silently made her way outside and waited patiently on the steps for her friend's arrival.

* * *

Max's eyes opened to find herself facing the cushions of the couch. She sat up and looked around for Kate, who was no longer present. Max let out a yawn. Feeling a tad less than clean, she thought it would be a decent idea to shower. Before going into the hall Max stopped at her bag and pulled out the pink toy once again. She held it in a fist as she made her way to the bathroom, and set it down on the inside of the shower. The brunette nearly tore her clothes off of her petite frame, standing in full nude glory in the middle of the bathroom. She set the water to a moderately warm temperature and put one foot before the other inside the tub.

* * *

Kate watched the wine red sedan pull into the driveway, and a head of blonde hair in a black pea coat and blue jeans emerged from the car. Victoria held a paper bag at her side which she clutched closer to her chest than her purse, which dangled from her forearm.

"Sorry, I would've gotten here earlier but..."

"It's fine. What's in the bag?"

"Max's camera. I'll explain once we're inside."

Kate saw Victoria's new found urgency to be slightly jolting. She didn't need to rush anything, but Kate _did_ want to know how Victoria came in possession of the brunette's camera.

* * *

Kate carefully opened the front door to hear the sound of rushing water in the bathroom.

"Max is in the shower, come on in." Kate said.

Victoria set her purse on a hook next to the door and put the paper bag on the dining room table.

Kate sat aside her and set her hands together next to the paper bag. Victoria pulled the old device from the bag, along with six Polaroids, and set them aside. Kate's face lit up.

"How did you manage to get that?"

"It was in the trash the day she left Blackwell."

Kate's brow furrowed.

"I know" Victoria held her hands up in defense, "I was just as surprised as you are, I had no idea she was going to do that."

"Never mind being surprised anymore" Kate sighed "it's just...I was wondering what happened to that yesterday. She has a NIKON D810, like the one you had at Blackwell."

Victoria smiled, slightly indifferent. She dug back into her purse at the side of her chair.

"Well she's got great taste. Gotta hand it to her, she's always had the fire to take pictures."

Kate could agree with that. Victoria fished out her lipstick and a mirror, reapplying the same wine red color that was fading from her pink lips. Kate noticed that similarity with her car, and Victoria's bag. She thought it fit her well.

"So...what exactly happened that night you found Max's camera?"

* * *

Victoria didn't know exactly why she couldn't sleep that night. It was nearing 11 in the evening, and Victoria was on a set schedule all week for a regular sleep pattern that she didn't like to stray from. But not even Victoria Chase could beat back the occasional insomnia, so she got up from her bed and picked up her camera, searching for something to snap a picture of.

The girl raised her NIKON and let the servos in the camera focus on the view in front of her. The ghostly moonlight filtering through her dorm room window made for a good night shot, and the camera centralized the color so much as to make it appear like an apparition was coming in through it. Victoria was just about to take the shot, but she heard a door slam across the hall, along with the sound of luggage being wheeled across it.

Victoria opened her door slightly and looked down the hallway. A girl, who she mused was Max, dragged a large bag behind her and out the door all the way at the end.

Curious, Victoria grabbed the handle to Max's room and found that it wasn't locked. She pushed down and forward, and the door gave way.

The room was entirely cleaned out, except for the furniture. The wealth of Polaroids that used to fill the walls were gone, the paper lights absent, and the bed sheets removed. The dorm room's walls were back to their white wash color, as well, and the closet was back to its dusty origin. But what really caught Victoria's eye was the fact that in the trash next to the door sat the old Polaroid 600 Max carried around with her at all times.

The blonde carefully pulled the camera from the bin and examined it. It was broken beyond use. She kept searching and found a small bag at the bottom of the bin held a bunch of torn Polaroids, and Victoria recognized a few of them. They were a part of Max's wall. Were.

Victoria almost cried to herself as she held the camera close. She stood and bolted down the hallway to try and catch the girl before she could leave. But as Victoria finally reached the parking lot, the Taxi was just turning the corner with Max already inside.

* * *

"I never got it back to her. I couldn't believe she would've left such a thing there. She even left some of her Polaroids, it made me so sad."

Kate put a hand over her mouth. She could barely believe what she was hearing. Kate had seen the newer looking NIKON in Max's bag last night, so it wasn't out of the question that she still took pictures, but she already abandoned one piece of her. Now where was the other?

"You didn't find her journal?"

"No, I didn't think to look. Listen, Kate. Is Max...alright?"

Kate shook her head. "She's a wreck. The slightest mention of that week just sets her off in several different directions."

Victoria worried for a moment that this would all be too much for Max to handle. It was clear something traumatized her enough for her to throw away something that used to be so important to her.

"What happened to her?" Victoria asked.

"Chloe died. Simple as that." Kate wasn't sure how the time rewinding aspect of this would sit with the blonde. She didn't even know why

Taylor of all people even believed her. Maybe she didn't. Maybe she was just humoring her.

Kate heard the water shut off down the hall and prepared herself for whatever might come next. Even Victoria showed an anxious movement in her seat as she looked down the hallway.

* * *

Max dried herself off and put on just her boy shorts and the plain t shirt Kate provided her. She picked up her vibrator and opened the door, unaware of either girl sitting at the table.

Max started down the hallway and spotted a distinct head of blonde hair sitting at the table across from Kate. The silhouette was lightly obscured, so Max began to inch her way forward with the pink toy in her hand now behind her thigh.

She got halfway through the hall when she realized it was Victoria.

Max continued to inch further forward, and in one large step crossed the hallway so she could get to her bag sitting on the counter next to the coffee maker.

Victoria's eyes caught her gaze, and Max froze like a deer in headlights.

Jesus, Kate was right, Victoria thought. Max had lines around her eyes, her skin was more pale than she remembered, almost sickly so, and it looked like she barely had any weight to her bones. Max was always skinny, but she looked terribly sick. Victoria knew anorexic girls from Blackwell that looked similar, but Max looked like a fragile creature ready to die at any given moment.

Victoria carefully rose from her seat. "Max." She said softly. Max's foot took a step back.

"It's okay, Max." Kate said. She watched the event unfold. Then she noticed the small device Max held behind her thigh.

Victoria took the most careful approach possible, and put a hand on Max's shoulder.

"Hey Max" she smiled. Max's look of concern was heavy. The last time she was at this distance with the blonde she was warning her of trouble, of the dark room.

Victoria grabbed the arm in which Max held her vibrator and pulled it forward. Max's heart rate rose too quick. She blushed hard. Victoria plucked the device from her hand and set it on the counter, then hugged Max tight.

Max found herself in disbelief. It wasn't even the fact that Victoria literally just grabbed something that was inside of the brunette not even ten minutes ago out of her hand, and held her composure while she did so, but it was the fact that she was hugging her.

What the fuck is going on? Max thought as the blonde backed up and held onto both her shoulders. Victoria planted a soft kiss on Max's forehead and reached behind her for the bag.

"Max, I know you probably got rid of it for a reason..." Victoria fished around in the bag for the camera. "...but I wanted to give this back to you." She held the camera between them, and Max looked down at it with a mortified look on her face. Kate saw the look on Max's face and began to worry. But Victoria noticed it too, and took the camera out of the Brunette's view.

"It's okay, Max. One thing at a ti-"

Max suddenly reached for Victoria and pulled her close. She felt a vice tight grip on her arm, and the room began to warp around them. Victoria felt the entire room reversing, and Kate, who was having her own anxiety attack, somehow came along for the ride. Max was ghosting in front of them both, and a myriad of voices, from some other dimension, shouted things at them.

 **"MAX! MAX HELP ME, MAX!"**

 **"CHLOE!"**

 **"I just wanted to say...I'm sorry..."**

 **"Oh look, it's Max selfie"**

 **"Max, I'm in a nightmare and can't wakeup!...unless I put myself to sleep."**

 **"Why does everyone let me down?"**

 **"Chloe, Rachel is missing..."**

 **"Th..thank you, M..Max. Don't you forget about me.."**

 **"Never."**

And just like that, it was over again. The tight grip on Victoria's arm released and Max backed up against the fridge before blacking out on the spot. Victoria barely managed to catch the brunette before she hit the floor. Kate put a hand on her chest to stop herself from freaking out. Victoria was almost on the verge of doing so herself, but as the two girls looked at each other Kate stood to help with getting Max somewhere softer than the kitchen floor to lie down.

* * *

Max found herself lying on the ground. Heavy rain poured down around her, and she looked up to see where she was.

 **Oh fuck, oh no, not again.**

Max frantically rose to her feet and saw the lighthouse rotating beyond the trees in front of her. The brunette walked up through the torrential downpour to reach the building.

She came to the clearing, and expected to see the tornado once again. But instead, she saw something even worse.

The water appaeared to have had a giant hole the size of Arcadia Bay churning toward the town. A bright red glow illuminated the inside of the whirlpool, and equally red lighting spurted out of it. Debris of all kinds rose from the inside of the pool, some of it on fire, and upon closer look Max realized there were people coming out of it too.

The ground suddenly shook underneath Max, and the entire side of the cliff, including the lighthouse, broke beneath her. She fell through the rock and grass, and landed painfully in the water. She fell toward the ocean floor, debris crashing in around her.

* * *

Max sat up on the couch and bumped heads with Victoria. Both girls simultaneously managed an "ow" before Max began to cry.

"Oh shit, oh fuck, i-"

"Shh, Max, you're okay" Victoria said to her. Max's whimpering made the blonde's heart ache.

"I had another vision." Max looked Victoria straight in the eye.

"A vision? Of what, Max?"

"A...I don't know. It was like a reverse whirlpool, shooting out buildings and debris and people and..." Max looked like she had no clue what to do. She was still freaking out. "Where's Kate? I need Kate, where is she?"

"Max, you've been out for four hours. She left to go take care of some things. You're fine, I promise. She left me to look after you. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Max stood from the couch and went to grab her bag. She retrieved her camera and turned it around to face her. Max snapped a picture and looked at it right away. Thankful she was still here, she set it back onto the counter next to her things. She rounded the counter and went to go and change back into her clothes. Grabbing the dirty shirt from the laundry basket, Max made her way out the front door.

Victoria watched her before realizing what was happening. "Max, wait!" The door closed in front of her. Victoria opened it and followed the brunette, grabbing her bag.

"Max, where are you going?"

"Home." The stuttering in Max's voice told Victoria she may have already been crying. She stopped Max by the shoulder and turned her around.

"Max, wait, stop!"

"What do you want from me?!" Max shouted as she closed the distance between them in a short second.

"I want you to be safe!" Both girls breathed heavily as they stared at one another. Max's face slowly returned to normal, but then transformed into sorrow. "Max, where are you going?"

"I just...I just need to go back to Chloe's house and get some things before I leave tomorrow..."

Victoria sighed and put a hand on her hip, scratching her head. "Do you want me to drive you? It'd be a long walk from here."

Max sighed and wiped at her eyes. She nodded, and Victoria opened the car door for her. Closing it, Victoria rounded the car and whispered to herself.

"What are we gonna do with you, Caulfield?"

* * *

"Kate, it's Victoria. Max woke up, I'm driving her back to the Price house."

Max laid her head across the window and watched the trees go by. She didn't really want to leave but her parents were adamant about her returning on their time. They'd purchased plane tickets for her to stay for five days, and the last day was tomorrow.

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, I have it covered. Okay, see you soon."

Victoria set her phone down and glanced at Max beside her.

"You doing okay?"

Max nodded. She looked down at the picture she took on her camera.

 **Wowsers, I look sick.**

"Max, why did you throw away your camera?"

Why did she? Max wondered. That artifact would have been the last thing she had from Blackwell in her possession. Her parents had given it to her only months before she left for the prestigious academy, as a going away gift, but it didn't seem like that anymore.

"Because...I couldn't bare to remember what happened that week. Old cameras, they just...they scare me now. I bought a digital because it felt like I wasn't going back in time for anything. It was like its own portal into the past. I couldn't haul that thing around anymore."

"I see..." Victoria said, turning a corner onto main street. "Do you really want to go back to the Price household?"

"I have to, I have things there I need to take with me when I leave for Seattle tomorrow."

"Seattle? You're going home?"

Max nodded. "It's the only place I can feel calm now. My parents don't mind me being there, either. I'm an only child, so..."

"Kate's going to worry about you."

"I know she will, but I have a therapist at home already."

Max held the small bottle of medication from her home therapist in her hand and absently looked at it. Victoria had a glance of it.

"Do you...still take it?"

Max shook her head. "I don't like the way it makes me feel. 'Stopped taking it four days ago when I got here. My mom would freak if I didn't keep taking it at home though."

That had to have been the reason why Max had responded so terribly to the outside stimuli both her and Kate threw at her, Victoria reasoned. It would also explain why she's resorted to Alcohol to resolve the thought of Chloe, and whatever other memories she had.

"Maybe it's a good idea to stay away from the alcohol" Victoria suggested.

Max nearly scoffed. "I barely even like it. I only downed the beer in the park yesterday because I couldn't disappoint my best friend."

"Max...Chloe is gone."

It pained Max to hear her say that, but it was true. Even though Max still heard her best friend's voices in her head from time to time, she knew she was gone. And unless She wanted to tear apart reality getting her back, Max was going to have to stay in the current timeline. Besides, she wouldn't be in Arcadia Bay for much longer.

Victoria thought of what happened earlier. "What the hell happened earlier? Did you...rewind time, or something?"

Max nodded. "I did it with Kate on accident yesterday. But I don't really remember it all that much. Today was different. When I brought you with, I brought her with too, and I have no clue how. I've never touched another person while I've rewound, so I don't have a clue as to what repercussions it will have. And the voices...that was a new one."

"One of them sounded like mine."

"That's because it was, Victoria. 'Oh look it's Max selfie' is what you said to me."

"When?"

"Not even an hour after Chloe was shot and I rewinded time to save her ass. If I remember correctly you were sitting on the steps to the dorm room and wouldn't let me by. So...I dumped paint on you."

Victoria didn't know whether to laugh or be completely dumbstruck.

"Paint?"

Max nodded.

"Oh yeah, Samuel was painting that day." Victoria smiled to herself as the realization hit her. "Holy shit, Max, you can rewind time!"

"It's a fucking curse. I wouldn't even wish this on you."

"But it's such a cool power! You can change the past and see the consequences almost instantly!"

"Yeah...until I accidentally put Chloe in a wheelchair by trying to save her father before he died when we were 13."

Victoria's smile faded.

"A wheelchair?"

"Yes. Did you hear when she was thanking me at the end? She asked me to overdose her on morphine. I did it, but only because she was suffering. The entire price family was suffering. I couldn't see her go out by suffocation."

Victoria glanced at Max and noticed she wasn't crying. She figured that Max had gone through enough of it to know how to deal. The blonde's curiosity pulled her strings now, though. And she wanted to know everything.

"What else happened that week, Max?"

Max laughed. "You're the second person besides Kate to ask me that. I mean, a lot of shit happened that week. Chloe died, a lot. The final time, she was shot by Jefferson."

"Jefferson?"

"Why do you think he's in prison?"

"Are you saying you put him there?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And I'm not being sarcastic. I tore time apart and put it back together stop from ending up in that same position again. I had to convince Chloe three times over in order for her to finally trust me and not get shot. Jefferson lured us in the first time. He wasn't about to a second time."

Victoria took a deep breath. It was all so much information to take in at a time, and it kind of disturbed her to hear about it. But she found it all very fascinating at the same time.

* * *

Victoria pulled into the driveway of Chloe's house and followed Max inside. She'd known Chloe from an outside perspective, but she knew you didn't know a person until you stepped inside their home, especially not one that's probably changed since their death.

Victoria was greeted by a tan hallway and a set of stairs, the stairs of which Max clambered up before a tall blonde woman could get her attention.

"Was that Max that just went upstairs?"

Victoria nodded. "Yeah, I just drove her back."

"Oh, thank goodness, David and I were worried sick about her. She didn't send us at least a text message telling me she was gonna stay with a friend the night before she was leavin'."

"Yeah, i..." Victoria didn't know what to say.

"Pardon me, name's Joyce. I'm Chloe's mother."

"Pleasure to meet you. Victoria." The blonde held her hand out. Joyce gingerly shook it.

"You can come on if you'd like, sit at the table, make yourself at home. I need to go and speak with Ms. Caulfield upstairs." Victoria thanked her and inched her way down the hall while Joyce ascended the steps.

* * *

"Max?" She knocked on the door. She heard rustling from the other side.

Joyce opened the door just enough to see the girl beyond it packing, and entered the room behind her. Max was folding clothes and putting them away in her suitcase, nearly unaware of the woman's newly found presence.

"Max, dear" she put a hand on her shoulder. Max jumped on the spot and looked back at Joyce with a slightly jolted expression.

"Sorry, didn't hear you come in."

Joyce thought that was either a lie or a dreaded symptom of her PTSD talking. The Caulfields sent a prescription along with the brunette detailing what exact symptoms she might show and how to rectify them. Joyce looked over it at least five times before she let Max out the first night she got here. But for five days she hoped she wouldn't have to use it much.

"Max, where were you last night?"

"Kate Marsh's place."

Joyce was relieved to hear that. She'd only ever seen Kate at the church, but that was almost two years ago, and although Joyce had no idea who she was now, she couldn't begin to think she was any sort of bad influence on Max.

"That nice girl from the church? The blonde that went to Blackwell with you?"

Max nodded and continued to fold her clothes.

"And what about the one downstairs. Who is she?"

"That's... Victoria. She's a bit tougher to explain. The day Chloe was killed she hugged me in the middle of the hallway at school. We just..stayed friends after that. Used to bully me."

"Really? Max Caulfield dragging a bully around with her." Joyce was nearly beside herself as the brunette's face stayed relatively calm.

"She's changed, Joyce. Really. She's a sweet girl now, much like Kate is. In fact, they're good friends now too." Max finalized her packing and zipped the luggage shut. She put it on the floor next to the door and went to hug Joyce. The woman accepted and pet Max's head.

"Are you sure you're alright to fly to Seattle tomorrow morning, Max?"

"I have to go home sometime. I can't make my parents worry anymore than they already may have."

"I suppose" Joyce sighed "I just hate seein' you in dismay. Last night I just couldn't help but feel you were in some sort of danger."

Max hugged her tighter for that.

"I'm sorry, Joyce. I know I should have sent you at least something."

"Don't be, Max. You're a smart girl. But don't make that a habit, sweetie." Max smiled. For once in a long time Max felt relatively calm. Joyce was as much a mother to her as Max's, and in the event that she had to stay in Arcadia, Max would feel very welcome there.

The two stayed like that for what felt like minutes before Max made to move away. Both of them trailed down the stairs.

* * *

Victoria made her way through the cream colored house and came upon the living room. With one glance of the kitchen, which wasn't that impressive, she let her eyes wander over the fireplace and to the middle of the living space. A good sized couch laid in the center, and Victoria made to sit there for the remainder of the visit. The place wasn't all that unique, it looked a lot like any regular house in the suburban area of Arcadia. But maybe that's why Victoria figured it was unique to Chloe's childhood. It was setup nearly the same as an american home, with a single car garage, two levels, a bar kitchen, and a backyard. It was comfortable but Victoria's eye desired more than the look it was given.

A specific panel of wood outside the sliding door caught her eye. It was colorful at her angle, but she couldn't see the whole thing. Victoria went to open the door, but footsteps began to echo from upstairs.

When Max and Joyce finally returned down the steps Victoria pulled herself away from the sliding glass doors. Max looked a tad bit better, but she was still the sickly image of a lamb that hadn't eaten in weeks.

 _ **Noir Angel**_ Victoria thought.

No matter how morbid it seemed at the moment, Victoria thought Max was adorable. The brunette met eyes with her before Joyce took hold of her attention.

"Would you girls like something to eat?"

"Sure," Max nodded, motioning to Victoria.

The girl nodded as well. "That'd be lovely, thank you."

Joyce smiled at the blonde. "Alright, what would you like? Signature of the Price household is either a bacon omelette or pancakes. Your choice, sweetheart." Joyce put both hands on her hips and leaned against the wall.

Victoria had both dishes numerous times at the two whales with Kate over the past couple of years. They were both amazing, Victoria knew, and Joyce had cooked Victoria's food nearly every time she ate there.

"Whatever Max has." She smiled.

"Bacon Omelette for me, please." Max said.

Victoria thought she almost seemed joyous in that moment. Her phone buzzed in her pea coat's pocket in that fleeting moment.

 **K:How are things?**

 **V:Fine. Joyce is making us food. Did you know Max was going home tomorrow?**

 **K:No, I didn't. Is she flying?**

 **V:Yes. Joyce seemed a bit concerned about that though. She apparently freaked when she didn't hear back from Max last night.**

 **K:I think I would have too. Joyce is a great parent. She's always been.**

 **V:The fact that she is making us food right now is good enough for me to believe that.**

Victoria looked up from her phone, catching another smile from Max. Joyce must've been really happy to have her here. Max was nearly the closest thing Joyce had to a daughter, and in a lot of ways, Max echoed Chloe's personality. Victoria knew Max couldn't replace the late punk, but she could make Joyce's grief a little less than what it was.

And that was worth it.

 **K:Great to hear :)**

* * *

Kate smiled as she sent her last text, and put her phone on the charger before she left her car. She sighed and walked up the path to the lighthouse. Kate was going to find out about this place, and why it made Max tick so damn hard.

The blonde pulled her poncho tighter to herself as the wind blew at her. The salty ocean air felt good on her face and tasted unique to the time of day. It was already dusk, her favorite portion of the day when things seemed so calm. The orange of the sunset made things that much more beautiful.

Kate looked the lighthouse up and down, examining the random man-made glyphs on the structure and how ominous it seemed to illuminate against the backdrop sun. She turned to her left and saw the map of the bay around the lighthouse, and noticed a small red skull symbol with a pirate patch up in the forest. Kate retracted herself and walked over to the bench in front of the cliff.

The girl noticed the small flash of a distinct blue she'd only ever seen Chloe wear before. Upon closer inspection of the direction she'd seen it in, Kate realized it was a blue and brown butterfly. The small creature was half and half, one side, one color. Distinct in its nature, Kate could only think of one thing, or two people rather, she could compare it to.

Kate held out her hand and let the insect land in her palm. The petite set of wings gently met above the insect's back, and Kate took another look to confirm her eyes telling her it was two different colors.

And it was. But that wasn't even the oddest part. Kate swore she heard voices like earlier when Max rewound time again.

The set of voices were nearly incoherent, but Kate focused on the wings themselves, as they began to shine in front of her. When the wings began to oscillate, that's when Kate felt the entire world shift around her.

A bright flash of white light nearly blinded her, then Kate found herself in limbo, watching a set of timelines fly by. Her eyes focused on one in particular. It was Kate

... standing on a ledge, Max reaching out to her.

* * *

Max groaned as she grabbed her head again. Reaching out to try and freeze time again, she made a sound of pain that forced Kate to face her.

"What are you doing here, Max?"

Kate's heart sped up in her chest as she watched herself stand on the edge. This must have been what Max was referring to. Kate was driven to suicide at the top of Blackwell's girls dorm room. How?

"Max, I'm in a nightmare and I can't wake up!...Unless I put myself to sleep."

 **So that's what I heard earlier...it was me.**

Max had tried and tried again to convince her, and for a moment Kate was feeling hopeful. Kate could feel her alternate self shift between the emotional distress. She knew how to handle it now, but it was a stabbing pain in her chest. When the conversation between them finally reached its breaking point, the blonde turned as if she were leaving through a doorway, and among the screams of terror emanating from the crowd below, Kate was falling to her inevitable death.

* * *

Coming out of the dimension, Kate found herself back in the view of the lighthouse. The two colored butterfly disappeared from her palm, and Kate was glad that it had.

A fleeting feeling of despair permeated the blonde's every sense, and Kate suddenly felt frightened by what she saw. She took an urgent step away from the ledge and back to her car, where she sat with her hands on the steering wheel nearly having a panic attack.

 **Max saw people die right in front of her. And I killed myself when she tried to help me. No wonder she distrusts so easily now.**

Kate sat back in her car seat and rubbed at her forehead. The phone in the dashboard vibrated and she picked it up to see a message almost a half hour old.

 **V:Kate?**

 **K:Sorry, zoned out for awhile. At the lighthouse.**

* * *

Victoria put down her fork and swallowed as she nearly read it out loud.

 **The lighthouse? What was she doing there?**

 **V:Why? What's over there?**

 **K:I figured coming over here would tell me a bit about Max's power. I was right. This butterfly, it came out of nowhere, and I swear it just showed me an alternate universe where I killed myself in front of Max. Scary to think she's still here and remembers such a thing.**

 **Yeah, that's a bit of an understatement** , Victoria thought. Max caught Victoria looking down at her phone with a strange look on her face and wondered what made the girl look so pensive. She took another forkful of eggs and forced it into her stomach before asking her what was wrong.

"What is it?" She asked her.

"Oh, it's just Kate. She texted me back finally."

"What did she say?"

Victoria's voice caught in her throat. If she mentioned such a thing she wasn't sure how Max would react to it. She was already sensitive enough as it is. That was apparent by how happy Max looked earlier, and at the moment. Victoria swore this girl was bipolar, too.

"Nothing exciting" she lied, setting her phone down and cutting back into her pancake. Max reached for the device and ran.

* * *

Kate rounded the corner to her apartment. For a moment she contemplated driving up to the Price Household to see what Max and Victoria had been up to. Figuring it was a decent idea, she wanted to stop and change into something warmer and more ideal for a late night.

She parked the car and made her way into the house. Kate flipped the switch and sat her things down on the table. She sighed to herself and threw her keys on the counter before walking down the hall to her room. She closed the door behind her, but heard a strange noise come from the kitchen, like her keys had slid off the counter somehow.

Gently she opened the door and inched her way down the hall. A shadow.

"Hello?"

The shadow moved, and Kate realized it was feminine...familiar. It wasn't until she got around the corner and laid eyes on her that Kate nearly fainted.

* * *

Max got halfway up the stairs before Victoria nearly tripped reaching for her. Max attempted to close the door to keep the blonde from getting to her, but Victoria managed to squeeze herself through the door before that could happen.

It was too late. Max had read the texts.

"Great, because that was the last thing I wanted Kate to see." Max handed Victoria her phone and sat on the edge of her bed. Dumbstruck, Victoria stood and stared at the brunette, who was nearly laughing to herself.

"I mean, it's not like all this time manipulation has fucked up anything else.." Now

she was laughing. "Right Victoria?" Her head cocked to the left and Victoria's eyes furrowed in concern. Max stood and quickly closed the gap between them, cornering Victoria on the door. She reached for the nob but Max's uniquely strong grip on her wrist caught it.

Their faces only inches apart, Max's maniacal look softened.

"M..max?"

Max's face came forward and locked with Victoria's.

Fuck it, Max thought as she forcibly grabbed Victoria's sides. She felt a pair of hands run up her back and press her against the other female. Victoria could barely breathe though, and was finally set free from her position when a call rang her cell phone.

Max separated them and took deep breaths to calm herself. Victoria looked at the phone and answered it when she saw Kate calling her.

"Hello?"

"Vic, it's Kate." She sounded breathless, pacing back and forth in the kitchen.

"Hey, you sound like you just ran a marathon, are you alright?"

"You're not gonna believe this. I need you to get over here with Max, right now. Not in a few minutes, not in an hour, now."

"Okay, okay, I'll be there...just, don't freak out."

"Alright." Kate hung up quicker than she thought was possible.

"Is she on the way here?"

Kate nodded, trying to calm herself.

"Good. Listen, Kate, I don't expect you to understand how this is possible, and honestly I don't either. But things are changing, and Max is probably the only one who can stop them."

Kate's heart ached to hear her say that. But she knew it might have been true. And if Max couldn't stop it, the whole world may as well be over.

"Are you sure what you're saying is true?"

The girl nodded.

"God help us all if she can't stop it."

* * *

The wine red sedan once again pulled into the driveway outside Kate's place. The girls got out of the car and Victoria waited for Max to go first. The brunette knocked gently on the door.

Kate's face filled the crack.

"Listen up. Don't freak out. I know it'll happen, but don't freak out."

"Katie, would you just let us in?" Victoria said impatiently. Kate hesitantly opened the door.

Max stepped inside first, followed by Victoria, as Kate locked the door behind them and stood in front of it.

Max stopped in her tracks. The person she was seeing...no, her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. This was a fucking setup. It had to be.

"No...no," she began laughing again "that's not you. It can't be. No way in hell."

"Max.." Kate began. Max turned away.

"Nope. I refuse to believe it."

"Max, it's-" Victoria began, too before Max violently cut her off.

"NO IT ISN'T! FUCK YOU, IT'S NOT HER."

"MAX!" The figure jumped off the counter and slammed her against the wall. "It's me, dammit! It's... It's your pirate, remember?"

Max stared into her friend's deep blue eyes as Chloe began to tear up. They looked real, she smelt real, she felt real.

"Snap out of it Max...I need you, right now, Max." Chloe clutched for dear life onto the girl. Max felt a lump in her throat restrict her breathing, and she began to cry harder than she ever had in her life as she ran a hand across the girl's cheek.

"I'm here, Max. It's really me...it's really me."

Kate and Victoria watched the event unfold, and the two girls nearly began to cry along with them.

Chloe and Max embraced one another for the first time in two and a half years. And neither of them knew how it was possible.

* * *

 **Author's note: this chapter was one of the more experimental ones, I wanted to explore the underlying sense Max still retains from those precious weeks that basically changed her life. And as you can see, things are...well, getting strange. Kate is now the one experiencing visions, and I thought Max bringing both of them back with her would have some very strange consequences. Anyway, look out for the next chapter within 5 to 7 days. I've already began working on it, so it should be relatively lengthy, not sure yet.**

 **I fly home from Ireland tomorrow morning, returning to Madrid, so if there are any mistakes or continuity problems be sure to let me know. See ya guys later :3**


	3. SnapShot

**THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS, it means a lot to me. This next chapter is a bit shorter, maybe by a thousand words or so, but I was eager to get out an update. Also, I'm thinking of going back to rework some things with the two previous chapters, eventually, but most things will stay the same, just some minor details will change. Anyway, here's the next update. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3 - Snapshot**

 **Koven - Petrichor**

* * *

"How much do you remember from that week?"

The way Max asked that question, as if to be uncertain of Chloe's memory, made the bluenette almost shudder under the shroud of night above her.

"A lot of it, actually. Parts you rewound and changed things I don't remember as well, but I saw everything in between...even the parts that were extremely unsettling." Chloe's voice dipped into mild disturbance.

Max lowered her head in shame. She brought her thighs closer to her chest and stared up at the punk. The starry night sky made Chloe look angelic in the moonlight, even if it was to show the stark contrast of her internal emotions that would soon come out of her.

"Max," Chloe started up the side of the roof towards her, "you destroyed yourself trying to save me. I don't even know why you'd save my ungrateful ass, but you were so close to becoming a photographer, to getting your life started. Why didn't you just leave me buried in Arcadia under all that debris?"

Max noticed how profoundly soft Chloe was speaking to her. It was unlike the usual cacaphonic symphony of swear words and vulgarities that plagued their conversations. Instead it was replaced with the euphemism of Chloe's emotions weighing in on her voice for Max's sake, who she knew had to be sensitive at any given point, maybe more so than she realized. But the brunette had always felt a certain affinity for the punk, one she could only describe with four words.

"Because...I love you." Those seemingly little words, uttered by the time traveler, barely had time to register inside Chloe's brain before she realized their gravity. Chloe felt a warm substance fill her veins and her face turn red, and she sat next to Max, causing the brunette to open her form and cuddle with her.

"I love you too, Max. Everything you've done for me, in a single week... I couldn't ever repay you for that, not even with my life. And...thanks for not letting me suffer in bed while my respiratory system failed."

Max was about to say something before the thought of that day crossed her mind. The day she put Chloe in a wheelchair. The day she destroyed the Price Family. Before the brunette remembered she could manipulate time, Max figured that was it. Chloe was going to die no matter what Max did to try and stop it. It was medical, not interdimensional, and Max almost accepted it.

Sadness for Chloe's family. Vindication towards herself for making a wrong move with dire consequences. Regret for altering the past that held a defined future. She knew it was wrong, but if William and Chloe were to have a chance of survival she'd have to take the opportunity into her own hands. Max didn't expect for anything to go wrong, until Chloe's life was changed forever in front of the brunette's eyes. And when she again found that same photo, Max knew it would be the right thing to reverse her mistakes and undo the horrors she'd brought into existence.

Max's stomach flared in pain at the thought of Chloe suffering for years on end.

"I never want to see you suffer ever again. No more playing with time...no more." Chloe felt a hand clutch at her shirt, and Max dug her face into the girl's neck, enduring the sharp pain that was now extending into her chest. Chloe gave Max's opposite shoulder a gentle and reassuring squeeze.

"Max... I don't have a clue how I came back. It was like...like I went to sleep for a very long time, and then...some portal opened up, and I found myself back at the lighthouse. Max writhed in pain again and Chloe looked down at the snuggling brunette. " For god's sakes Max, why are you so skinny? You look like a sick lamb."

Max sighed to herself as the pain began to subside. "After your death... I gained some weight. I put on twenty five pounds, because I was eating junk food almost non-stop. Then my stomach started having problems. Ulcers, acid reflux, indigestion, you name it. My parents took me to the doctors after I started to lose about five pounds a week. Then...we found out I had crohn's disease. My weight dropped all the way to ninety five pounds before the medication finally kicked in."

"Oh Max..." Chloe hugged her close and tight. That made her heart ache, knowing how much her death broke the poor girl. And Max would break for her again, Chloe knew that. "I'm so sorry for being an arrogant ass... I just..."

Max reached up to cup the girl's face in her palm. She gently led her face to her own, and kissed her like they had before she sacrificed herself at the lighthouse. The girls laid back during the kiss, and only separated when they couldn't breathe. When the intimacy was broken, Max and Chloe laid completely on the roof of Kate's apartment. Max tried to shut off her brain, to at least nap next to the girl she thought she'd never see ever again. She felt a hand rise up under the waist of her shirt, and as Chloe massaged Max's side, the girl drifted into a quick slumber at Chloe's touch.

* * *

Victoria had checked Facebook at least ten times in the past hour while Kate was in the kitchen, preparing a pot of pasta and sauce fit for four people.

Since the idea of italian food hadn't been _her_ idea, Victoria had been christened to make the garlic bread, which only took the blonde _thirty fucking minutes to make garlic bread_. Much to Kate's amusement, she told Victoria she needed at least three pieces per person, and there were four of them. So the blonde spent ten minutes searching for a recipe on her ipad, another ten screwing up said random recipe (Kate didn't know how, but Victoria used way too much garlic), and another ten fixing it. But, since the deed was done, Victoria sat back down at the kitchen table and waited for what felt like hours.

It was eight in the evening and Kate was making dinner for the four of them. How weird, Victoria thought, but she rolled with it as her stomach finally caught up with her.

Victoria let out a groan as she lazily leaned her torso on the table, phone in the outstretched arm reaching halfway across it. To make things even worse, her iPhone was at 3% battery level. She sat back up and looked through her purse for the cable she thought she returned to the bag, but to no avail.

"Kate, do you have a charger for an iPhone 6?" She asked Kate from across the room.

Kate stopped stirring the sauce and looked at the blonde.

"I don't use an iPhone, so no. Max doesn't either. In fact, I don't even think she's even looked at her phone since she's been here." Kate returned to the sauce and gave it a taste test and shutting off the stove. Victoria heaved a sigh again. "This should be ready now. All I have to do is drain the noodles. Do you want to go up and tell those two to come down now?"

Victoria nodded and rose from her seat.

She walked up the nearest stairs to the roof outside and stopped when she heard the two girls talking.

"Then...we found out I had Crohn's disease. My weight dropped all the way to ninety five pounds before the medication finally kicked in." Victoria's heart jumped in her chest.

That's why Max looks so sick, she reasoned. In some morbid respect, Victoria was glad it was only Crohn's and not cancer, or something like that. She recognized Max's uncanny resemblance to some Leukemia patients that she'd seen on television, only Max's nearly black chin length hair still maintained its health.

"Oh Max...I'm so sorry for being an ignorant ass...I just..." and there was barely a sound after that. Victoria gave herself a deep breath, and leaned herself against the nearest railing. Had Victoria knew Max had such a condition, she probably would have given her a bit more space to deal, emotionally and physically. Their near confrontation this morning was a sign that Victoria needed to go easy on her. And that moment at Joyce's place. That was strange. Max almost stayed happy before she read the texts between Victoria and Kate. The severe irritability Max showed must've been a result of a Crohn's flare up. That combined with the trigger, and Max's maniacal look for a split second, made the blonde shudder.

Victoria poked her head up over the edge of the roof and saw the two girls lying with one another. Max was at Chloe's side, her head on her chest, and Chloe was massaging the girl's waist. Victoria faintly saw the pale timbre of Max's skin near the hemline of her pants. Max's shirt was somewhat risen upwards. The feeling of Chloe's hands on her bare skin must've felt like a gift from heaven, if the way Kate described the girls' relationship worked was accurate. They looked so peaceful, as if Chloe had never left the girl's life. Almost jealous of the contact between them, Victoria nearly stepped back down the stairs before she made a noise to get their attention.

Bravely enough the blonde whistled at them. Chloe, surprised at the sudden sound, looked around, and as she spotted the face of Victoria she poked Max in the side.

"Looks like your friend's here."

Max picked up her head and rubbed at her eyes. "Hey, what's up?" She asked tiredly.

"The food is ready."

* * *

The four of them sat at the table, and Victoria brought the 12 pieces of garlic bread to the table, while Kate brought the Spaghetti. Max and Chloe were already seated on the opposite side of the other girls, their hands joined beneath the table. When they were all seated, Kate put her hands together and mumbled a prayer to herself. Respectfully waiting for her, the others waited to dig in while she finished. When she opened her eyes, she blushed, and held out her hands.

"Let's eat, my beautiful cinnamon rolls."

Max made a wide smile as she remembered that nickname from so long ago.

"So...you're going back to Seattle tomorrow, huh?" The hurt inflecting in Chloe's voice made Max's heart ache. She didn't know how to respond, even at near to midnight as they sat atop the roof again.

"I...I don't want to. Not that you're back now. But...it would be very strange to explain to them that _that_ is the reason why. That'd be all over the place knowing them. 'Dead Arcadia Bay resident returns to life out of nowhere.' Sure, cause that would work _so_ much better." Max sighed.

Chloe looked off into the stars in deep thought. She was always the last minute planning type of girl, so Chloe had an idea. A reckless one, but still an idea.

"We _could_ fake your death." The look that received made the bluenette laugh.

" _Really?_ You think _that's_ a good way to make me stay here?"

"I'm kidding. Or am I?" Chloe's shit eating grin resurfaced along with the sultry advance that came with any kind of risky suggestion.

Max turned to her and gave in.

"Alright, let's hear it."

Chloe had to stand for this one. Max smiled at the motion she seemed to be putting into it.

"Okay" She began, clearing her throat "Kate's a therapist."

"Yeah, so?"

"What if…we pull a pseudocide and make it so clear as to say your PTSD drove you to suicide?"

Max stood herself "That's impossible. Chloe, I don't know who told you, but I...I don't have PTSD as bad as it seems. And definitely not to the point of actual suicide."

"Shit" Chloe cursed "then how would we do such a thing?"

"Chloe, it was _your_ idea, and quite frankly, a terrible one. How about I make a suggestion?" Max crossed her arms. Chloe doubled back in on herself at Max's newly found confidence. "How about I just call my parents, and tell them I want to stay another week or so. It'll work just the same, and I don't have to put my parents through the same wringer I went through with you." Max turned away, only as it felt right, but a new thought crossed her mind. "What happened to your dead body, anyway?" She turned back to face her.

Chloe's brows furrowed. "I- I'm not sure, Max."

Max thought for a moment. In previous times she'd rewound, the position she held in reality was the same that she held in time-space, but in the case that she did something, moved, and rewound, her ghost would still be there. Max didn't honestly know if this was dead Chloe or real Chloe, but she wanted to find out. The brunette turned around and hugged her best friend tight. Feeling the warmth emanating from the girl's torso, Max took a deep breath.

"Do you want to do something even crazier than Pseudocide?"

Chloe's heart did a joyous flip in her chest. Her Max was becoming more confident the more time they spent with each other. "What exactly are you talking about Caulfield?"

Max looked up at her with telling eyes. Chloe shook her head as she realized what she was getting at.

"Oh, fuck, no way. You're not serious."

* * *

"Yup, you're fucking serious." Chloe was reluctant to pluck the shovel from Victoria's arm after Max handed it to her to hand to Chloe.

"Come on, it's this way." Max led them up the path. She glanced at the time on her watch. It read 1:21 AM. **Perfect for illegal nighttime operations.** Max thought. Would it still be illegal if your best friend, presumed dead and sleeping away in a coffin underground, was still alive and gave you the go ahead to dig up her dead boy? That was a thought Max actually laughed to herself over.

Chloe and Victoria followed her up the path before they soon came up to Chloe's grave. A shiver went down the blue haired girl's spine.

"Ya know, I don't know if you guys have seen your own graves before, but just know it's not too great of a thing to see." Chloe was a considerably ways away from them, give or take five or six feet, but Max was on a carriage to a kingdom of surprises.

Kate was adamant about letting them go out and do this, and Chloe held onto a small pang of hope as Kate nearly begged them not to. But Max was hella persistent. She _had_ to know, and Chloe guessed since Max seemed to be incredibly unsettled by the possibility of there being _two_ Chloe's in this universe, that she had to go through with it anyway. Chloe also didn't know where Max had gotten two more fucking shovels either, and almost felt bad that the one she was using in particular came from Kate's own selection of gardening tools. (What the hell did that girl even need a shovel for, anyway?)

Max came upon the grave and penetrated the dirt with a thrust downward, scooping out the first initial piece of Earth. The girls began to dig, and after fifteen minutes of digging six feet, they finally came upon the casket with heavy breaths beside them.

The other two moved out of the hole while Max stood above the pod, and Chloe backed up again as she prepared herself for what she'd see next.

"Moment of truth, are you ready?"

Both girls nodded, and Chloe nearly closed her eyes as Max reached under the lip of the lid and pulled as hard as she could. All three of them gasped, loudly, as the lid came off and revealed what was inside. This time it wasn't Chloe who had been the most surprised.

"What...the...fuck…" Max breathed out. Chloe and Victoria backed away from the hole. It was _empty._

Max shined her flashlight up and onto the gravestone.

 _ **Maxine Caulfield. Daughter, friend, student. Sept. 21, 1995 - Oct 13th, 2013.**_

A shiver ran down Max's spine as she read the stone over and over again. Working herself into a panic attack, the girl felt her chest tighten, and she heaved a few heavy breaths before Chloe and Victoria helped her out of the six foot hole. Tears fled Max's eyes and she sobbed loudly into the dirt beneath her.

* * *

 **V:Hey. We found something...kind of unsettling.**

Victoria's text wound up on the very top of Kate's screen. She turned over in her bed and peered through the darkness to the dimmed smartphone. As Kate read the text she swung her feet out of the sheets and typed a reply.

 **K:Don't tell me it's another Chloe.** Kate laughed to herself, unaware of the situation now presented before them.

 **V:I'm afraid it's worse than that. It appears we've been dragged into another timeline. Either that, or Max has brought herself into this one.**

At first Kate didn't understand what the screen was showing her. Victoria's letters were arranged properly to form the sentence she now read to herself over and over again, this time outloud to make sure her brain was registering it. She gulped when she finally realized.

* * *

The sedan once again pulled into the parking lot in front of Kate's place. Chloe opened the back seat and cradled Max in order to pick her up. Victoria stood at the hood, watching Chloe do so, and the strong bluenette carried the girl to the front door. Max had completely shied away from any and all eye contact as the three of them entered. Kate greeted the trio.

"Find her a soft place" Kate mentioned "we want to keep her as calm as possible." Chloe took her to the spare bedroom and laid her down. Max's steely eyes look returned to her face, and Chloe looked down at her before turning to leave her in the silence that filled the room.

"Chloe" the soft voice called to her. She looked back at Max. "Cuddle me? Like on the roof?"

Chloe let a smile take hold of her lips and complied with the brunette. Snuggling up to her, Chloe wrapped her lean figure around her, to help Max feel protected and able to sleep. To her success, mere minutes passed before she fell into slumber.

* * *

Victoria watched Kate pace in the kitchen.

"This...this isn't good. This is going to set her off so terribly." Kate's head shook as she put a finger on her chin. "I don't even have medication to give her, either."

"She brought hers with, didn't she?"

"She hasn't taken it in nearly a week. It's probably receding and exiting her system as we speak. And if that's the case, we wouldn't be able to get her back in track that soon. Now we have to worry about her going home tomorrow, too."

Victoria held a thought in the back of her mind since they'd returned, but decided to keep it in her head until the time to release it had prevailed.

"Kate...Max is dead in this dimension." And that made Kate stop in her tracks. Victoria was right. If that was the case...when did she die? And what else had been screwed up by that change of detail?

Suddenly Chloe emerged from the hallway, and both girls looked to her.

"She's asleep. I managed to calm her down." Kate let out a sigh of relief, as did Victoria. Chloe hopped onto the counter and dangles her legs off the side. "You know, I thought of something." Chloe said as she played with her bullet necklace. "Max...might have killed herself to save me in the last timeline."

"How do you figure?" Kate questioned.

"Well, you need to hear me out for a moment, first. When I was given the opportunity to see what Max had done for me in the past, it also gave me a glimpse of her personality, the _real_ Max Caulfield that we all dearly love. And...well, she changed, a lot, at some point in time. I don't know when. But something gave me the idea that what happened had put her through so much trauma that she finally decided to walk into Nathan's gun before I was shot. I...vaguely...remember such a thing happening. It only just occurred to me."

"Maybe we should look up Max's obituary to find out what _really_ happened, Chloe."

"Shit, I'm fine with that. The more we know the better."

Both girls looked at Kate, who's phone had been clenched in her hands since she read the

texts.

A moment later, the Arcadia Bay obituary was brought up on her Chrome app.

"Maxine Caulfield, age 18, suffered a gunshot wound by the hands of Nathan Prescott, in the bathroom at the prestigious high school Blackwell Academy. Paramedics were unable to stop the bleeding from her stomach. Cause of death: cardiac arrest."

Chloe's stomach churned as Victoria read it aloud. "Okay, okay...no more" Chloe was nearly about to cry. Victoria returned the phone to Kate, who was also looking slightly dumbstruck.

"This is ridiculous" Victoria leaned over in her chair and put her head in her hands.

"Can't time travel be simple and non-paradoxical?"

"No, because that's what makes it so dangerous."

Victoria looked back up at Kate. "Think about it, Vic. What did we hear when Max took us with her? Voices. All of our voices, even her own. Maybe that's connected to the appearance of us, here, in this point in time. The only difference is that Max is dead here. Obviously she's not, but she is at the same time."

"And...if my knowledge of her power is as accurate in my mind," Chloe began "then it might have something to do with that vision she had of that hole in the sea."

"Wait, maybe that's it!" Kate jumped up from her seat.

"What?"

"It's a portal. It makes sense!"

"Okay" Victoria said "but that still doesn't explain _how_ she got into this timeline."

"Maybe she got sucked in the first time she tried to stop it, without Chloe. Then it must've been her after." Kate reasoned.

Chloe threw up her hands. "I don't know. But...we need to figure it out. The last time Max had a vision, that vision tore through Arcadia Bay."

All three girls realigned themselves with their sitting positions, and began to try and work out the ordeal. Chloe thought of what she had seen and how she could relate it to this situation, but beyond herself and what Max had done specifically for her, she didn't know much else. All she knew was that things were about to get really strange.

* * *

Max awoke in the guest bed, tired eyes prying open as the glowing sun permeated the blinds. She felt a presence on the bed with her, and as she flipped on her side she saw the back of her best friend facing her. Chloe was still in the same clothes she wore before Max went to sleep, so there was no doubt she'd come in and just plopped onto the bed and fell asleep next to her.

Max sat up and scanned the room. It was the same as it had been yesterday. Around the corner of the bed the edge of a sleeping bag poked out. Max quietly got out of bed and went to check who lay inside the sack.

A blonde head of hair was slightly sticking out of the open zipper, and as Victoria slept a dreamless, heavy sleep, Max noticed how calm she looked. Beautiful even.

Max took her eyes away and looked back at Chloe, who hadn't moved an inch since Max rose only seconds ago. She figured she wouldn't wake up for a while. They were awake until 2:30, or at least that's when Max went to sleep, and she had no idea how much time had passed between them and her. Feeling a pain well up in her stomach she made to go and grab her pills. Stepping into the hallway that was now glowing with orange light from the sun, Max walked into the kitchen and looked for her bag. Rounding the corner to the counter, the brunette didn't notice the figure sitting at the table.

"Good morning Max"

Max jumped immediately and looked over at Kate, who sat in her pajamas with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. "Sleep well?"

Max nodded and grabbed her camera bag, rummaging through it.

"Max…" She said, pen in hand, paper under her left forearm. "What was the end result of all that time manipulation?"

Max froze and looked back at her. Kate's eyes were almost piercing through her own, and at this point she wondered if it was because she was more alert or was purposely prying for information. Max's hand finally found the pill bottle underneath the cloth. She took it out and looked at the info on the side, which called for a specific oral administration routine.

"Sometimes...not even I know. I'd like to think that my decision was clear on saving Chloe, but she convinced me to let her go. I did, but only because...because she was suffering." Max opened the bottle and took out a single pill, setting the rest inside of her bag before getting a cup of water. She turned on the faucet and continued to talk. "All I remember is that...for the entire week, or two years for that matter, I killed my best friend." She turned off the water and took the pill. "But I didn't want it to turn out that way. You see, I tried again, going back, but I made a terrible mistake in doing so. I made two of myself. One Max was insane, hell bent on killing me. The other is...well, dead. And the third is me. Chloe didn't know or see any of the others, because she only saw her own destiny. That's how that works, I guess."

Kate wrote whatever she could onto the paper to try and figure this out. She had a diagram setup, mostly about the most peculiar of events. She'd already neatly pointed out that Max had gone back a second time after things were said and done.

"What exactly was the mistake you made, Max?"

"I died. In this timeline. And woke up in the one where Chloe didn't."

"Where do the copies come from?"

"I assume they come from the other dimensions. I had the dream of that portal, because I had crossed timelines again, but differently. My life force was dragged into the other one and anchored there, into this one. Then I came back. So now the timelines diverged." Max took another gulp of water to help her stomach settle.

 **Timelines intertwined. Multiple Max's, but she believes this is the real one. Second time going round to save Chloe made this possible, but two timelines are conflicting.**

"So...you're dead, but alive in this one. Chloe's stayed alive. But she was killed in the bathroom, I remember it. I stayed alive too, though."

"Which is what I'm saying, Kate. The first one I ran through was where most of us died and Victoria was still an alpha blackwell bitch. The second, sacrificing Chloe, we all lived. But… I couldn't live with Chloe getting shot. I kept the photo, went back into the bathroom, and Nathan killed me. So now… we have two...three, paradoxes. Chloe is alive. You are alive. I am alive. But we're all dead somewhere. That's why my grave was, well, empty." Max made small circles with the glass in order to coerce the water to form a whirlpool.

Kate watched the small occurrence happen in Max's glass.

"The portal…" She said.

Max looked up at her.

"It's a broken continuum. The tornado literally tore a hole in both dimensions. So now we have a way to the other one. Problem is, I wouldn't have a single clue on how to close it."

Kate noted the portal on her pad as well, then put down her pen to think.

"I heard from a certain someone...that it's possible the fabric of space and time can be destroyed with enough force." Kate said. "From Warren."

Figures, he might have been the key to at least _one_ question they couldn't answer, but all of the research Max did on black holes and how they affect time while exploring the concept of time travel, had her arrive at a conclusion.

"The only way to fix this is to see what's on the other side."

* * *

 **Author's note: Okay, so, this was a really early update, but I got bored today and sat down to write after I got inspired. Officially, the timelines have merged, and the team is in for a wild ride as they set out to find why. Meanwhile, on the other side of the dimension, things are even darker than they anticipated. The timeline Max left behind is filled with horrors and dark corners, and they're about to travel directly into it.**

 **PLEASE, let me know if there's anything I can do to fix whatever mistake or continuity error you find. It's probably not the cleanest, since I haven't written fanfiction in a hella long time. Anyway, stay tuned!**


	4. Filters

**Author's Note: I'm hella back, ya'll. Anyway, what a ridiculous gap that was. Writer's block sucks. Anywho. Here's the next chapter. It's much shorter than the others, but considering the time restraints I'm dealing with right now this is all I could manage to put out. Sorry to keep you all waiting. Here's chapter four.**

 **Chapter Four - Filters**

 **Between Two Points (feat. Swan)**

* * *

The morning sun peaked over the hillside behind the beach. It hadn't been too long before the group of girls had step foot there, either.

Max looked into the water as a small wave brought it to her. Her own reflection seemed placid, but on the inside it felt like the anxiety was tearing at her. Whatever they were about to do, it wouldn't end well. But for the sake of this timeline, and whichever it was conjoining with, Max pushed the anxiety away enough to think clearly. Partially successful, she heard Chloe forcing a new idea on the other girls.

Chloe had always been one for stealing shit, and that came in handy when the four girls decided they needed a boat to investigate what Max thought was surely a rift between worlds. Well, _Chloe_ thought it would come in handy. Victoria flat out disagreed with the punk in nearly every fashion, not wanting to make someone's day worse just because their curiosity was getting the best of them.

"Why not? We'll just take some old guy's dingy and ride off into the sunset with it." Chloe threw her hands out to her side. Max rolled her eyes, thankful her face couldn't presently be seen by any of them.

Victoria shook her head and sliced her arms in the air. "Uh uh, no way, Price. Listen, I don't know how many boats you've stolen in your lifetime, but I am _not_ getting caught playing Grand Theft Dingy. We'll just rent one from the port authority. I have more than enough money to do that."

Chloe visually sneered, annoyed at the fact that Victoria still had some of the old Blackwell Alpha still stuck inside of her. Purposely, she let loose on whatever thought popped into her head next, any nickname she could use to her advantage.

"Really, _Vicky_?" the use of Victoria's most hated nickname flipped a switch inside of her. "You want to be a rich snob and _rent_? We're not going fishing, we're going to find a fucking hole in the water! Who's gonna care about a floating closet when a giant hole is ripping into our reality? The right thing to do is not make ourselves look suspicious."

That engendered a scoff from Victoria. "And what would you know about doing the right thing?"

"I SACRIFICED MYSELF FOR THE ENTIRE FUCKING TOWN!" Chloe shouted.

"AND YOU LET MAX DO ALL THE WORK!" Victoria returned.

"ENOUGH!" And that was the end of it.

Chloe and Victoria pulled their angered gazes away from one another, and looked to the person who had shouted at them. The group had a difficult time recognizing the anger that was now a part of Kate's always innocent face. She held her fists at her sides, breathing heavily with frustration. She took a couple of deep breaths before making an attempt to settle herself, before making her point.

"Excuse me, I'm very sorry for that." The blonde apologized, holding her hands up, and finally came back down to a calm level. "But we need to think about this in the most sensible way possible. As silly as it sounds, Chloe, we don't need to draw attention to this."

Max looked at Victoria. "I have to agree with them on this one, Chloe. Renting might be the best idea right now." Chloe huffed and began to power down the sidewalk with her arms crossed. Max watched her and sighed to herself. Even in facing certain death, and the possibility of her coming back from death itself, Chloe Price was still a pushy sourpuss.

Victoria shaped up in the middle of Max and Kate, joining them to watch Chloe walk away from them, just before Max ran for her.

"Chloe, wait up!" Max called after the bluenette.

Kate's exhausted face and prominent slouch only enhanced the inflection in her words. "Should I go after them?"

Victoria shook her head. "Just let them deal with it." She watched Max run after the girl and proceeded to kick sand around beneath her feet. Kate's vision shifted between Chloe and Max then back to Victoria. Something about her seemed rather different.

Kate took a moment to just study the girl before her.

Victoria was always very calculated. On the usual basis, her clothing was always sporting a proper fashion, her hair was always honey blonde and pixie cut. Even her stance gave out free information as to how she put thought into the way she moved. But Kate began to notice the small perturbation in her recent behavior. She seemed almost to shut in around Chloe. Why, Kate would never know.

But she had an idea.

"Vic… do you...find it hard to get comfortable around those two?"

"It's mainly just Chloe. Her and I never really got along before Max was around. And even then… well. I don't know." Victoria's eyes softened.

"I think you have a problem." Victoria raised an eyebrow at the other blonde, and mouthed a 'huh?' kind of expression. "What?"

"A problem? The only problem I have is that Chloe brought Max down with her. As much as I've heard about what they went through, Max was in the complete right to sacrifice her."

Yikes. Kate was sorry she asked.

"But…" Victoria continued "It's good to see Chloe may still have a chance of giving Max a more positive outlook. I just wish I could do the same...you know?"

Kate's head cocked in confusion. Victoria threw up her arms. "I don't know. Don't listen to me."

"No, go on. I'm listening."

 **She's holding something sensitive in there.** Kate thought. **I wonder…**

"I...developed feelings for Max, a long time ago. It was after the shooting in the bathroom, but I found myself just adapting to her. I gave her so much support, because she was so broken that entire week. She seemed to perk up but...I don't think it was because of me. It just makes me so angry."

"Vic" Kate put a supporting hand on her shoulder. "You did what you could. Don't beat yourself up over it, okay? She went to a great length to save her best friend. And yes, it destroyed her. Yes, she had a choice… but she's got a power none of us will ever understand. The fact that she chose to stick with Chloe's absence and suffer for it? No one could've fixed that but her."

Victoria sighed. "I guess you're right." And smiled back at Kate.

* * *

"Chloe! Wait up!" Max jogged after her. She caught up with the bluenette in the moment and fell in step at her side. "Chloe, where are you going?"

"Away from the rich snob. She's still a bitch, even in this timeline."

Max scoffed. "Chloe… she's _such_ a better person in this timeline. She's friends with _Kate_ , of all people! Doesn't that tell you something?"

Chloe huffed again. She could've been friends with the pope and it wouldn't have mattered to her. "You sure it's not an act? She was hella two faced all the time, even before you came back to Arcadia Bay."

"Surer than I've ever been. You need to play along, just accept that she's going with us to find whatever it is that's fusing the timelines." Max put her hand on Chloe's shoulder to halt their advance. "Look at me, Chloe."

Their eyes met, and in that instant Chloe's hands fell back down to her sides, her head downcast.

"We're going to get through this. I know you, and I know that you're concerned. Because the last time we faced something like this, we nearly died."

"One of us did, Max. I'm just… I'm just worried that it's going to be a repeat of the week we were all nearly buried under a tornado. Don't you _ever_ feel the same?"

"Yes, I do. But I promise you it won't turn out that way." Max looked to her left and saw Kate and Victoria watching them. "Let's go get this boat of ours and find out what's going on… then we can figure out other stuff. I promise."

The small boat was a turbulent ride. It uncomfortably held the four of them, and only the four of them. It was a small vessel, sported a single propeller engine on the backside, to which Chloe had been operating. They headed directly outward at Max's direction, or at least which way she thought felt the most accurate.

"Are you sure we're going to find this thing out here?" Victoria shouted over the engine.

"I don't know, these things are random, but maybe." Max said back to her. After ten or so minutes of sailing, Max began to feel a tad strange. There was...a noise that Max made Chloe stop over. Chloe stopped the boat and all four girls went to examine the water, until a small current began to drag them to the right.

"Uhh, are we drifting?" Kate asked.

"It appears so." Victoria said. "Max, do you see anything?"

She saw _something._ But Max wasn't exactly sure what it was. It wasn't like the massive whirlpool she saw in the vision, but instead it was much smaller, more ominous. She stuck her right hand into the water and closed her eyes, attempting to detect whatever had been causing this.

There was that very slight vibration echoing from within. It seemed like it was in a similar fashion to what she heard during her rewinds, only without the strange voices and noises. It sounded calm. The rest of the them picked up on what Max had been doing and joined her.

"Anything?" Chloe asked. The vibration fizzled out.

Max looked back at them. "I felt something. It was faint, like a vibration. Like something large and living was breathing below us."

"Uhh, I'd like to point out that there _are_ whales that come into the bay all the time." Kate said.

"Yeah" Victoria responded "but only if they get beached, or are in desperate need of food. I can't imagine one coming right up to us."

Max thought it might have at least sounded similar to the humming of a whale. But Victoria was right. Every whale they'd seen had ever just beached on Arcadia Bay, but that in and of itself was a rare sight.

The four girls stiffened as they listened for anything unusual. Chloe put her hand in the water and tried to replicate whatever Max had heard, but to no avail.

"Dude I can't hear anything-"

Suddenly the boat tipped sharply to the left and the dragging intensified. Kate and Victoria held onto anything they could, clutching onto each other's life jackets. Max's legs dipped into the water as she fell from the front, and Chloe had all but tumbled into the sea. The whirlpool ahead of them opened up even wider, growing rapidly in size, and tearing at the group.

"Chloe!" Max shouted.

"I'm okay! Just, hold on!" The boat turbulently rode the current inward. Kate and Victoria braced themselves while Chloe went to help Max. She put her hand on Max's life jacket and tried to push her up while Max pulled. Successful, she helped Chloe into the craft before a bolt of lightning crackled above them.

"Get down! Get down!" Max yelled. Everyone dropped immediately. Snap after snap of lighting roared in succession, dark clouds condensing in the air above. The boat picked up even more speed, until…

"Shit! We're getting sucked in!" Victoria yelled. "Oh fuck, _oh fuck,_ no, I can't die like this!" She cried, clutching to Kate, who was also pleading for her life. Max and Chloe looked at each other in the eyes and grabbed one another by the hands. Chloe used the other hand to restart the engine, but it wouldn't turn over.

"Chloe, stop, it's not working!" Max shouted. Chloe tried once more before kicking the engine in frustration and panic. She looked back and grabbed Max's other hand.

"Max Caulfield, don't you dare let go! Whatever happens!" Two more sets of hands joined them, and the girls reconfigured themselves before the whirlpool sucked them in.

"Hang on!"

The water covered them so quickly they barely had time to react, but all four of them held on to one another. Then, as soon as they were submerged, they were spat out, or rather, _launched out_.

Four bodies careened out of the other side, now twirling in the massive tornado along with the group. All of their eyes were shut.

And someone let go.

The small figure lay unconscious high in the trees above ground. The tornado had separated them all. Kate, Victoria, and Chloe nowhere in the vicinity. Max was on her stomach, tangled in the foliage. Thorns pricked at her skin, and little flecks of blood dribbled down onto the dirt below.

Max finally awoke with a half conscious groan. She opened her eyes to darkness. And her mind opened to pain.

"Ow, ow, oh shit. Ugh, what the fuc- ssss, ow, ow" she cried, flinching in the tree. A gust of wind pushed her against the branches, and Max sucked in air as a pain like fire raged through her stomach.

 **My stomach flares...getting worse.**

Steadily, Max untwisted herself and freed her limbs. Finding a hole in the branches, Max began her descent through the pricks and cuts. She grabbed each arm one by one. It reminded her of a time when she _thought_ she could climb trees, but it was soon apparent that she couldn't when a branch snapped under her weight, and she began to fall through the foliage.

Max received even more lacerations on the way down, finally slamming on her side into a puddle twenty feet below, a horrid pain erupting in her left hip. She muffled the scream that came along with it. Luckily the trees had broken some of her fall, so maybe it was just a bit bruised.. She laid there for a second, feeling like her whole body had been covered in paper cuts. Her jeans were ripped, shirt torn, sweatshirt nearly to shreds. Everything was horrible. Not to mention the entire area was soaking wet. It wasn't raining but the puddle Max fell into was a sure sign that it had recently.

Max let herself relax for only a moment before she attempted to stand. Underestimating the damages of her fall, her left leg nearly gave out on her. She steadied herself and began to limp along the path. She didn't have a clue where she was, but Max had to try. She thought of rewinding to fix her injuries, but realized it was wishful thinking as the pain worsened over time.

Max just limped until she found anything. Anyone.

* * *

Chloe and Kate were a different story. They'd both washed up on shore, nearly half a mile from each other. Chloe had woken up first, searched the shore, and noticed the blonde washed up in the same position Chloe had been in.

It took a moment to wake her up, but when Kate opened her eyes Chloe breathed a sigh of relief and took her in her arms.

"My god, you're alive" Chloe hugged her. Kate already had tears in her eyes, nesting her head in Chloe's protective shoulder.

"T-That was...f- frightening…"

"I know, I know." Chloe breathed, shuddering against the cold, nighttime wind of the beach. She didn't want to admit it, but she had to. The experience _was_ absolutely terrifying, like a roller coaster none of them wanted to ride. "But it's okay now. I'm here."

"We need to find Max...and Victori- ow, I- I hurt all over." Urgency echoed in her voice. Chloe hushed her.

"Shh, we'll find them. I promise we'll find them." Chloe looked up at the sky behind her. It was a moonless night, but starry none the less. Somehow it felt foreboding to her, the void beneath sky that already swallowed them up once. "Come on, we have to find some shelter."

Chloe raised Kate by the arm and helped her up. They walked up the shore, the same one they had departed from some time ago. Chloe wondered how much time had passed in general. It was night time, and they'd left that morning.

 _ **I hope you're okay, Max… I'm going to find you. I promise.**_

A few minutes had passed since they began to walk, and they finally came up to a small shore side shack that looked like it could pass for a suitable shelter. Opening the old wooden door, Chloe carefully peered inside to make sure it was clear. She then helped Kate inside and gently lowered her into the sand.

"I can't believe this is happening." Kate said quietly. Chloe took a seat next to her.

"I...I can't either. I just...ugh, I hope Max is okay..." Chloe balled herself up on the ground, and Kate saw tears start to roll down her cheeks. She put a supporting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"We'll find them, Chloe."

* * *

Max had been walking for what felt like hours. So much time had passed since she began, yet the sky had stayed dark. There was no indication of the sun, or the moon for that matter, and Max wondered if this was some time travel trickery. Thankfully, she was able to walk a bit better now, slowly bouncing back from her injury. How long had it been now? Three, four hours in the darkness? Her anxiety had only skyrocketed, her eyes darting back and forth in the trees and foliage as Max led herself through the forest.

Finally she made out the sight of the shoreline… and a single, rotating light.

 _ **I'm on the opposite side of the lighthouse...and I survived? How is that possible?**_

Nonetheless, Max began her journey to the building. Her right hand felt like pins and needles. The further she walked the worse the feeling became. It was almost like the closer she got to whatever she was walking towards made it more severe. But she pushed on.

Thirsty, exhausted, hurting. Max's foot caught a branch on the ground. She stepped outwards with the other one and stabilized, before the same thing happened thirty seconds later. This time, she fell forward with an 'oof.' She didn't have any tears left to give for the pain either.

 _ **So much pain… I can't even cry right now.**_

Max looked up from the dirt. Something...small, and shiny, was winding itself around the trees just up ahead. With renewed strength, Max pushed herself up off the ground and continued on as fast as she could. The light became stronger the closer she got. The hill to the lighthouse was a familiar obstacle, but she pushed past it until she came upon the building that flanked the lighthouse.

The light gently hovered above ground. Max gently held her hand out to it, the pins and needles feeling increasing exponentially. Finally, she pushed into it, and the world around her froze.

As if the darkness of the atmosphere wasn't enough, the sky lost the view of stars, transforming into a void. The water below the cliff went completely still, and the lighthouse quit rotating.

"Well, look who finally strode into my reality. Four people, actually." The voice came from nowhere.

 _ **What the fuck…**_

"Don't act so surprised Max. Your nightmare was enough. Better not to strain the both of us."

The light from before coalesced near the cliff. It brightened to the point where Max had to cover her eyes, and when she took her arm away from her face, she stiffened.

"You're...you're me."

The Other Max nodded, though she looked _dead,_ most of the color from her skin was non existent, and her face was sunken in. Even her eyes looked glazed over.

"Yes, in fact, _I'm_ the one who should've been in that grave you found."

"But that was...Chloe's grave."

Other Max shook her head. "It was, up until things began to rip apart. I figured it out, you know. All of this stuff. Chloe was rooted in multiple timelines, her spirit just...would never _fully_ die. Instead, it was transferred, to here, back to yours, back to William's… And then you had that vision after you passed out, and, well, you wound up here."

"It started even without my influence…"

She nodded again.

"Even I was confused, at first. Until I realized just how crazy things had become. Turns out, chaos theory can span even years after the initial event."

"Is there _any_ way to fix it?"

Other Max shook her head, "Not a simple one. It involves a lot of crazy shit that would take a lot of time to explain, and you don't have that time... _we_ don't have that time. You're dying, Victoria might in the next couple of hours, and I already am."

"Victoria?"

"She let go when you were ported over. Accidental, mostly. You shouldn't be surprised honestly. Shit like that happens here all the time. Your landing in a tree was pure luck."

Max's heart flipped. "I...It…why?"

"This place is where people go when they die, Max. The night here...it lasts forever. Find Victoria, Kate, and Chloe first, then we'll talk more...oh, and one last thing." Other Max held out her arm, presenting a polaroid to Max. "You remember this photo. In another timeline you ripped it in half. I think it's better you keep it, just for safe keeping." And without another word, the pale skinned, deteriorating body faded away, and the world resumed its Long Night of Solace.

The pins and needles were extinct from Max's arm, and so was most of the pain in the rest of her body. Not nearly all of the cuts were gone, but a lot of them were all of a sudden. Max looked down at the polaroid she held in her hand, noticing there was a slight vibration to it, almost the exact same as what she felt in the water. It was pulsing, and each time it did, Max felt better, like it was giving her more energy.

 **Wowsers. Alright Max. Time to be an everyday hero. Find Victoria, Chloe and Kate. Then, we're getting the hell out of here.**

With renewed confidence Max sprinted down the hill to find the others, making it her only priority.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Like I said, short chapter, but I'm starting on the next one right away. I'd like to thank those who have taken time to actually review the story, it really helps not only my confidence levels, but it makes me aware of things I may have overlooked, such as Chloe's death date actually being the 7th, not the 13th. Thank you kindly,** **darquan0** **for pointing that out to me. Again, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all again soon.**


	5. Echoes

**Apologies for the long wait, again. I've had the flu and a really bad tension headache in between this chapter and the last, and it was very difficult to write, even for a few minutes. But this is the next installment. I know some of you have seen me post an entirely new fanfiction called "When Good Heists Go Bad." It's basically a spin off of the Saints Row universe, but it's more a Vortex Gang AU, in its current state. I really hope you are all enjoying this; to be honest it kinda feels like it's gone way down in survivability, for whatever given reason, and even though the views are still coming in, the cohesiveness seems kinda iffy. But this** _ **will**_ **get finished, eventually, within the next couple of weeks I hope.**

 **Onto the review responses (I'm only doing those for chapter 4 at the moment.)**

 **CassieHU: Thank you for the continued support!**

 **Darquan0: I'm not surprised either. My reasoning with Vic however was that she was willing to help Max get better, and she knew that if she** _did_ **help her that somehow she'd perk up. There may actually be a lot of running and screaming fairly soon. Lol.**

 **LeRobbie: Sorry to keep you waiting, and thanks for the continued support.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Echoes**

 **(Solar Fields - When Worlds Collide)**

* * *

For what it was in the current state, Arcadia Bay seemed flattened in every direction. The small bit of it Max had seen coming in from the lighthouse reminded her of the carnage wrought by the tornado, or whatever brought this crazy amount of destruction. But it didn't exactly _feel_ that way. Instead, Max thought it must've been some kind of energy instead of a physical entity. Definitely not nuclear, but something even more ominous than she anticipated.

Blackwell seemed _mostly_ intact, all except for the main building itself, which was half crushed by one of the largest trees in the area, accompanied with a boat that somehow got caught up in the mix. The courtyard was littered with debris from the school, and most of the windows were broken. The forest that once stood here was leveled to the height of a few stumps, the statue that once proudly sat in the very middle of the courtyard missing its torso. The dorms were still put together, mostly. The spot in which Max's dorm sat was untouched, but the other side had unfortunately been crushed by a large whale. Something about that made Max wonder if anything was still alive here. Even dead Max was present, but how many of them were there? Could there have been multiple of each of them?

"It's sad, isn't it?" The voice made Max jolt. The ghostly Other Max stood at her side in the courtyard, her eyes pointed in the same direction. "This place...it used to mean something to us. And after everything we experienced, you chose to leave it. Why?"

Max thought about that for a second, looking up at the buildings that used to hold her dreams. There was something that lived here, pulling at her from the inside out. Something she never wanted to remember but couldn't will her mind to leave her alone.

"It brought back too many bad memories. Memories of the dark room...and Jefferson."

"You're right, it did." Other Max sighed. "I'm actually kinda jealous you got to see it _after_ Jefferson. I wasn't so lucky dealing with him."

Other Max lifted her shirt to reveal the scars all along her belly.

"Did he…" Max took in the sight with her mouth agape, bile rising in her throat.

Other Max nodded. "Got too much on his nerves. I was so scared but… when I woke up here, it was like I passed into another timeline. It was only until I looked in a mirror that I realized I was dead. Why it hadn't just been a dark void of nothingness was beyond me."

"I'm sorry….I" Max almost choked out. How could she let Jefferson do that to her?

"You shouldn't be. It's hard to tell how many other Max's you make. There's about ten or twelve of them, actually." She said, as a matter of factly.

"Jesus… what about the others?"

"I've seen another Chloe, but that's it. Has a bullet hole in her head. The one from the junkyard." Max shook when she heard that.

"Is she...is she okay?"

Other Max put a pale hand on her shoulder. "She's at peace, Max. But I'm afraid you won't see her here. She's transcended this hell."

"Transcended?"

"Mastered her anger, her history. The only reason I don't is because...I just can't. Our powers keep us here. That vibration you felt is the perturbations caused by all that messing with time, like ripples in the water."

"Is there a way to fix that? To remedy that hole in Arcadia?"

"It only opened for a reason, Max. It's not clear why, but I assume it's because something recognized your presence. I just woke up here, _you_ traveled here. But it was out of necessity. I understand why you did it, but why bring people with? And I'm surprised Victoria didn't talk you out of it."

"We didn't think something like this was even possible at first, but I couldn't resist when I found your casket in my reality. Or when Chloe showed up...I was in so much shock that I just…"

"I understand. Seeing someone who you sacrificed two years ago is quite the sight. But you shouldn't worry about it anymore, honestly. All you need to do is find the reset button."

"The reset button?"

"It's a theoretical thing that exists here, but the dead can't reach it. I used to think it was in the Dark Room, but it turns out that it's in Chloe's house."

Her heart skipped. "Her house? Of all places?"

Other Max nodded. "The only reason it's there, I've figured out, is because that's where the timelines merged the most. We made such a huge impact on that part of reality, and it's only now come back to haunt us."

"Why now?"

"I'm not sure, but you need to find out why. Physically I can't...but Victoria can."

"Victoria? Why her?"

"She's considered a bystander in this universe. Kate not so much because she jumped off a roof, but Victoria's one of the only people you brought with that didn't die in the original timeline. Sure, she was going to be one of Jefferson's victims eventually, but it never came to pass. That's why she's imperative to this whole thing, and why she's in the most danger."

"Do you know where she is?"

"I have a feeling she's around here somewhere, around Blackwell. _Most_ of the time when someone ends up here, they end up in a place they were very much bound to in reality. If not, they end up somewhere like the beach, or in the random piles of debris in the city. Chances of Victoria being at Blackwell area actually pretty high. I'd start with the dorms, you'd have the most luck there, but be careful of the spirits. They don't like it when people bother them."

"Spirits?" Max suddenly felt her feet turn cold.

"Of the past, present, future. You may or may not see things that'll trigger you, but I can't see that far ahead. Just keep that picture I gave you close, and you should be fine."

Other Max's frame started to fade, and it was only seconds before she was gone. Great. So now Max had to go into Blackwell, where there were mostly likely spirits of dead people. But if Victoria was there...it would explain why she was in danger.

Max took a step forward in the courtyard, then another, as she cautiously made her way to the dorms. Eventually finding herself at the foot of the steps to the girl's dormitory, Max gave the slightly open front door a small push, and was greeted with a pitch black hallway. Thankfully the stairs were at the direct left of the front door. Max made her way through the darkness and opened the door to the upper floor.

Chills went down her spine as a cold air rushed at her. One of the last times she'd been here she left a lot of things behind, including her camera. The nightmare's version of this still encroached upon her fears too. Hopefully she wouldn't be going through doors for hours trying to figure out which one let her through.

The corridor seemed eerily quiet, until Max began to hear a low whisper. It sounded like a female voice, a soft one at best guess. Then there was another, this time more high pitched and rough. Then another, and another. The light filtering in at the end of the hallway started to dissipate and Max nearly ran down the hall as everything seemed to darken.

The voices grew louder with each step she took, getting to the point where Max was cringing at how loud it was. A scream, echoed by a gunshot, multiple gunshots, she thought she heard. Girl's voices talking, whispering, screaming, echoing-

...and then...nothing. Max found her hand on the knob to Victoria's room, shaken by the occurrence. She prepared herself for whatever she would find here.

Max twisted the knob and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. She gave it a small push to which the door inched forward and right back again. This time, Max put all her force into it, and fell into the room when another body hit the floor next to her.

Victoria yelped, scrambled to her feet, and backed against the wall. "Please, please, don't kill me! I don't know what you want or why you brought me here I-"

Victoria stiffened as she realized who'd fallen into her presence. "Max! Oh my god, it's you." She fell to the floor and helped her up. "I thought I'd never see you again. What happened?"

"We got separated" Max stood and brushed herself off "during the transition. I don't know who let go, but…"

"I'm just glad you're here. Where's Chloe and Kate?"

"We have to find them" Max looked at the broken windows behind Victoria "jesus, did you fall through that window?"

"I...I don't know. I just woke up here. Listen, Max, I've been hearing voices, a lot of them, but I don't know where from. I've had to lean up against my door because I was afraid something was coming for me." Victoria sounded panicked, the poor girl must've had a bout of adrenaline that _still_ hadn't stopped.

"I heard them too, but listen, we have to find Chloe and Kate...and there's a lot of explaining to do on the way."

"You want to go back through the dorm? Are you crazy? I heard the voices again just before you got in here!" Victoria pleaded with her outstretched arms.

"We have the other door, the emergency exit right next to our rooms. We can book it, it's just across the hall."

Victoria sighed and looked deep into Max's eyes. She nodded, and they stacked up by the door. Max grabbed the handle and pulled. Both girls jogged to the other side of the hall. Max slammed her palms up against the doors, but they wouldn't budge. She gave it a small kick.

"Shit, they won't move!" She brought up her hands again to push the door, then put her body weight against it. The doors pushed back in retaliation, forcing Max to the ground. The doors slammed open, a black smoke bellowing out of the exit hallway. Two glowing red eyes amidst the smoke locked onto Max as she scrambled to her feet and guarded Victoria.

"Okay, definitely not that exit!" They turned and ran for the main entrance.

The whispers came back, very suddenly. Names they recognized were being echoed back and forth, names of all girls in the dorm.

'...Max...Victoria...Kate...'

Max sped up down the hall, nearly dragging Victoria with her. The blonde panicked behind Max, and Max rolled her eyes as they neared the door finally. "This one should be op-"

A scream from the otherside and slamming on the door made the girls fall on their heels.

Max and Victoria turned around. "We're locked in. That's it, we're finished!"

Max suddenly got an idea. She grabbed Victoria by the shoulders "no we're not. I have a plan, a really stupid one, but it's a plan." Max grabbed Victoria's wrist and dragged her down the hall again. She built up speed and nearly picked Victoria up by the time they were near the window, the black smoke eyeing them both as they quickly closed the distance.

"Max what are you? OH NO! FUCK MAX-"

Max pushed herself and Victoria through the black smoke and directly through the window. Both girls slammed onto the sunshade outside, groaning as their backs immediately bruised. The screaming and whispers stopped inside, and Max breathed a sigh of relief.

"Caulfield" Victoria breathed "don't ever do that again please."

* * *

Chloe sat with Kate in the small shack and wondered what she should do. They hadn't made an emergency plan in case something went wrong, and now they were paying the price. Chloe smirked at that small, unintentional pun. But the smirk faded almost immediately. Max was missing from her life again. That was enough to make the Bluenette hurt all over.

Kate had taken up a small, silent mantra, the same she'd do with patients who were less than capable of conforming to a basic calming method. Chloe watched her do this for nearly an hour before the uncertainty of it all made her stand up and pace.

Kate opened an eye to see Chloe walking back and forth in the small space.

"I can't sit here anymore" Chloe said automatically. "I think we should go and start looking for them."

"Right now? It could be dangerous out there."

"I don't give a shit" Kate cringed at the cuss word "I just want to find Max and Victoria and go home. You with me or not?" Chloe held out her hand to the blonde, who hesitantly took it. Chloe hoisted Kate off the ground and to her feet. Wasting no time, Chloe power walked out of the shack and up to the road.

"Chloe, can you slow down a little? I don't have as long as legs" she called after her. "Where are we even going first?"

"We'll start anywh-" Chloe stopped suddenly as she reached the side of the road. She cupped a hand over her mouth and felt her knees buckle. Kate caught up with her, and nearly did the same thing as she too saw the ultimate carnage wrought by what was assumed a force to be reckoned with.

Chloe chuckled for a second "You know, I used to say I hated this place...and..." Her voice became quiet "now, actually seeing it in ruins is just..."

Kate nodded in agreement. She didn't have ample words to describe the scene, but she imagined it would be akin to an Armageddon. Granted Arcadia Bay wasn't that big, but when Kate lived there her whole life and hasn't seen much else, it felt big enough to miss.

Chloe continued onward across the road, and followed it to the left, where she knew she'd run into Blackwell soon enough. Kate followed in step. As they walked Chloe took a moment to survey the damage all around. Everything was equally wet as their clothes when they washed up, as if it had just rained twice over. But it had been nearly three hours since they found even the slightest of shelter, and there were no bouts of rain since. Even though it was completely destroyed, Chloe thought she vaguely remembered looking at this same view some time ago. Whether it was déjà vu or not, she felt something connecting her here.

Besides Chloe, the question burning a thousand embers in Kate's mind was how they were going to find Max and Victoria. Kate figured Chloe would be dead set on finding Max right away, and since that was the case, Kate had to push herself to help Chloe do so before being left behind.

They strolled down the main road for awhile, the wind blowing a ghastly whisper across the broken town of Arcadia Bay. All around them were piles of debris, just like Max had seen, but it was much more spread than that. The entire road seemed to be covered in pieces of concrete, dead fish, birds, anything. All of the buildings were knocked down, some flattened by massive boulders or even dead whales.

Kate surely didn't like the carnage. With each step it seemed to only get worse. She hoped Blackwell wasn't like this.

"I can tell you don't like to look at this" Chloe chimed.  
Kate sighed, of course she didn't. All this destruction reminded her of certain bible teachings, ones that scared even the most devout of Christians.

"I don't know how to feel about this." She said hoarsely.

"I get a pretty strong feeling this isn't the real Arcadia Bay" Chloe reckoned.

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at it. It's way too decimated. No tornado does this much damage and leaves a town still half standing. Besides, I bet Max is thinking the same thing. Wherever she is."

"Don't you care about Victoria, too?"

"Queen V? I might feel bad for her but she doesn't have a place in my heart like Max does. I don't even know why she came along if she thought it was such a bad idea."

"Chloe..." Kate stopped and grabbed her hand. "Victoria helped Max when you weren't there.. Max held onto her for months before she left Blackwell, and you're telling me you don't appreciate what she tried to do for her?"

Chloe looked at Kate's sweet face before looking down at her feet. Avoiding eye contact was the main thing she wanted to do right now.

"Don't make me feel guilty for not being there" Chloe said quietly, slightly hurt from the implication. At a moment's notice she realized she'd been doing the same thing to Max not even two years ago when she returned. It wasn't exactly fair in this situation, she thought, but Chloe knew they couldn't leave Victoria behind, even if the first impression between them wasn't too terrible the first time they'd met. Sure there'd been some slurs here and there, _maybe_ Chloe called Victoria a cunt, but they never spoke afterwards, not even when Max returned the first time.

Chloe sighed and gave into Kate's wisdom. "I...I do appreciate it, a lot. And you're right, I shouldn't be so hard on Victoria."

"I'm sorry, you seemed really stressed out. But everything will be okay, Chloe."

They finally came upon Blackwell nearly thirty minutes later. The sight nearly surprised them both until Chloe figured this would be the norm from now on, and Kate had no more surprise left to give. Both of them weren't feeling up to any of this, but they had to find Max and Victoria.

"You seem as surprised as Max did." The voice made them jump. Chloe spotted the Other Max and was about to happily greet her before noticing how pale and dead she looked.

"M...max?"

"You could say that. Though I'm not really the one you're looking for."  
Kate put a hand on her chest and took a seat on the fountain. She took a deep breath and looked at the Other Max with wide eyes, the look she gave her only lasted a few seconds as the sight nearly gave her an anxiety attack.

"You're the one the grave belongs to." Kate said without making eye contact. Other Max nodded.

"Unfortunately yes. And Chloe...oh, Chloe. It's so good to see you again."  
Chloe's eyes nearly glazed over with tears. "What the hell happened to you, Max?"  
Other Max lifted her shirt to show the very deep lacerations in her stomach. Chloe inched forward and touched the scars.

"I pissed off Jefferson too much, I guess."

Kate nearly hurled. While it was true that Jefferson had a dark room and was doing things to girls that were highly illegal, Kate never expected Max to be a victim of it. She had never let on that small detail, and it all made sense now.

Chloe put her forehead in her hand and took a very deliberate few deep breaths.  
"I can't...I cannot fathom how this has come to pass. Where are we even?"

"People that died in the other timelines wind up here. It's a place of eternal night time, kind of like a sleeping purgatory."

"Are you saying..." Kate began. Other Max nodded on command. Kate put her hands on her temples and went completely blank. This had to have been the absolute most ridiculous outcome they'd ever imagined.

"I wouldn't be too worried about it, Kate. I've seen some shit here though. In fact, you should probably head to the dorms. Seems like the spirits are getting restless, and someone or two people are making that happen." She pointed to the dorms across the way.

On cue, Kate and Chloe looked at one another and rushed to the building, just in time to see the northern window break and two girls to come out on the roof of a sun shade.

Victoria helped Max down onto the ground, using her taller figure to her advantage. She jumped down after her, her feet slightly protesting at the fall.

"Max! Victoria!" Chloe ran to them and hugged them tightly. Kate wasn't far behind her, jogging to catch up with the tall Bluenette.

"I was so worried" she cried "I thought something bad may have happened." She released the girls from her hands and took an inventory of Max's figure. Everything was in place, it seemed. Chloe smiled at Victoria, who looked much more worse for wear than Max, by far.

"Let's try and stick together this time." Max said with a slight smirk. Her and Chloe hugged again, and Victoria swore she could see little red hearts floating into the air above them.

"So what's our next move?" She interrupted.

"Now, you go to Chloe's house."

"Pardon?"

"I didn't say that."

The Other Max stood only a few feet from them. Victoria's surprised face was almost humorous to the three girls who'd already seen her.

"Like I said, Chloe's house holds the reset button."

"Wait, reset button? I mean, my dad used to keep an easy button around there somewhere but I don't think it does anything remotely to what you're talking about."  
Other Max gave a slightly dead smile.

"Oh Chloe, always the sarcastic of us. Though that would be hella useful, wouldn't it?"

"Even though it would be kind of dangerous." Regular Max said. "We can't screw with time anymore. So what exactly is this reset button you're talking about?"

"It's a rip in the time space continuum, where the timelines merge. It's there for unknown reasons, but I expect it has to do with Chloe's father."

"My dad?" Chloe asked, nearly dumbfounded. "But he's been dead for nearly 7 years. How can he have that much of an influence here?"

"That's just the thing...you won't understand this, I imagine, but...Chloe...your Dad is here."

"He...what?"

Other Max motioned to Regular Max. Max took Chloe's hand and squeezed it, calming the mild anxiety attack Chloe was about to have on the spot.

"So we find the rip, what do we do with it?"

"That's sorta for you to find out. I'm innate at interacting with the surrounding world."

"And yet you can disappear and reappear at your leisure" Kate said.

"I don't understand it either. Just find the rip. Seal it somehow, then things will go back to...normal. And don't worry, Chloe will still be alive."

The group simultaneously gave a sigh of relief. Other Max faded away again.

"So, head to my place?"

* * *

"Are we going to talk about the fact that there are two Max's here?" Victoria said on the way.

"Actually, it's not at all surprising," Max added "the way she described it, kinda makes sense. Besides, I'm the one who messed with my fate and Chloe's."

Victoria looked at the road ahead and studied the thoughts coming in through her head. Two Max Caulfields. One dead, the other alive. What next? One in between?

"And let's not forget my father is here, too." Chloe put out, to which Max's hand gave a comforting squeeze to Chloe's as they walked side by side. Max didn't have a clue how that was going to turn out, especially since Chloe already heard about Max's time in the place William was still alive. She wondered what kind of expectation Chloe had about their fated reunion. But if William was still here… Oh no. He hadn't moved on.

* * *

Chloe's house had to be the absolute most intact thing here that anyone had seen since they arrived. The only difference was that it was completely painted blue instead of only half. The four girls stood in front of the front door, scanning the house for any irregularities. The weird thing was that every other house was flattened.

Max noticed Chloe tense up. She put a supporting hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ready, Chloe?"

"As I'll ever be, Max..."

"It's okay. I'm here to guide you."

Max looked back at Kate and Victoria. Both of their faces echoed concern, but eventually the look Max had given them turned their faces placid. Well, Kate's face. Victoria still looked a bit concerned.

"Here goes nothing..." Chloe breathed. She opened the front door and immediately noticed the warmth rushing out at her. The house was weirdly lit, like someone had left all of the lights on. There was even sunlight coming in from the kitchen and living room, a stark contrast to what had been dark and uninviting outside.

"Hello?" Chloe called, looking back at her companions. "Hello?" She asked louder. Footsteps came from upstairs. As the figure showed himself, Chloe put both hands over her mouth and cried. Her knees buckled out from under her, and Chloe fell to them as she took in the sight.

William's smile was big enough to warm all of their hearts, and for the first time in almost two years, Max felt happy about something.

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah, there's chapter 5. Like I said, I was really sick in between this chapter and the last, so I apologize this wasn't much earlier on. The other Fic (When Good Heists Go Bad) is currently being worked on for ch. 5 as well, so stay tuned. If you have something to say, please post it in the review section. I love hearing back from my readers. Also, if you're a Despicable Me fan, then check out the stories by MassInvader on my old fanfiction account. It's also got one for Invader Zim. It's kinda trashy writing, as in kinda not good, not as good as my LiS stuff I'd say, but if you're into a more serious tone of things, or something mildly depressing and tragic, give it a look. I'll be revamping that shortly. Anyway, hope you enjoy the rest of your day! :D**


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